


Fire to the Wind

by Moonfishh



Category: Haikyuu!!, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bokuaka - Freeform, F/M, Haikyuu - Freeform, Haikyuu Rarepair Weekend, Haikyuu Week, Haikyuu!! AU Week, Haikyuu!! Rare Pair Exchange, M/M, Multi, Third Gym (Haikyuu!!), haikyuuau, haikyuuharrypotter, haikyuuharrypotterau, haikyuuingeneral, iwaoi - Freeform, kenhina - Freeform, kurotsuki - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 55,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21987901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonfishh/pseuds/Moonfishh
Summary: “Brought your potions book?” Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow, looking around Kuroo as if he were hiding it behind his back.Kuroo smiled, opened his mouth to speak, but fell flat. His eyebrows drew together and lips pinched into a straight line. “Okay, so I forgot. But-”.Tsukishima groaned, letting his head fall back on the chair.“BUT” Kuroo repeated, lifting a finger in the air.A Harry potter Haikyuu au, because i'm self indulgent andI love Kurotsuki with a burning passion.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 17
Kudos: 152





	1. Chapter 1 - Come on Mr Sarcasm

**Author's Note:**

> Yahoo, I dont really know what I did here, but I wrote a fic and hhhhhhh uhhhh I hope you enjoy :)

Kuroo liked Hogwarts. Of course he liked Hogwarts, what kid didn't dream of receiving the destined letter on their doorstep upon their eleventh birthday. Kuroo could only pity from afar about those who theoretically dreamed that magic was real, stuck back in normal lives where if you wanted to get somewhere, you'd have to drive a metal contraption, if you wanted to swim, you couldn’t get out and instantaneously become dry. Not to mention, all the pranks that could be elaborated on with a flick of a wand.

But perhaps that was stupid on his part, because thats how Kuroo ended up in this situation. Kuroo liked Hogwarts, of course he liked Hogwarts, but if anything was the same...it was detention. And yet again his pranks had gotten him here, ass sat in the most uncomfortable wooden seat, feet kicked up on the desk, seeing as the teacher isn't here to tell him off anyway. 

Looking around the room, he took in the high ceilings of the transfiguration room, desks lined up in perfection, and only two students apart from him, sat at their own desks. The girl sitting at the front was a 7th year, familiar, as she was from a few of his own classes, brown haired bangs cut short to her forehead. She sat, reading a comic, not looking particularly interested in her surroundings. Hana Misaki, known for her short tempers. It was too obvious how she ended up here. Boring.  
He moved on, eyes swerving to take in the other student, two desks to his left.

Kuroo, who was someone partaking in detention at least once every few weeks, had never seen this boy here before. He was tall, blonde golden hair and blue sapphire eyes, bored looking with a hint of fatigue lying in his expression as he drew circles on the desk beneath him, gaze shooting up to look at the time on the clock. A 5th year? A naive looking fifth year…good, great even. Something to play with.

He yawned loudly, almost vociferous, and definitely bringing attention to him from the younger in the room, blue eyes turning to pin him with an annoyed stare. Kuroo smirked.

Kuroo dropped his feet to the ground, leaning his arms on the table. “What are you in for blondie?” he propped his cheek on his hands, looking off to the left. 

One of the boys eyebrows twitched, shoulders wound tight as if he knew this conversation was inevitable, and yet he kept silent. Hah, as if that would deter him.

“B l o n d i eeee” Kuroo drawled, voice sluggish. 

The boys eyes snapped to him again, eyebrows now twisted.  
“What” he hissed..

Kuroo blinked a few times at the hostilities in his voice. “Jeez nevermind, Tsundere”. He folded his arms.

“You're the one whos bothering me” the blonde boy retorted.

“Just tryna make polite conversation. First time in here? You know looking at the clock every few seconds isnt gonna make time go any faster.” Kuroo smirked.

The blondes lips formed frowned. “It'd be a more positive first time experience if you didn't talk”.

“Okay” Kuroo smiled. “Then you talk”. He jumped up eagerly, strolling over and plopping down in the seat next to the blondes. 

The boy only mouthed at the air, looking for words.  
“No” he settled with.

“Come on, just tell me how golden boy got into detention”.

“You're really making a lot from just my hair”.

“It's a distinctive feature” Kuroo shrugged. 

The boy seemed to grimace, looking up at the clock again before turning to face the raven haired Kuroo, looking agitated as well as considering if he should engage in the conversation and humor him. Kuroo would decide that for him, of course. 

“I'm Kuroo Tetsurou” he layed out a hand for him to shake. The friendly gesture was ignored.

“Tsukishima Kei”.

“Okay Kei”.

“Don't call me that”.

“Okay Tsukki” Kuroo restarted, and Tsukishim- Tsukki sighed. 

“What got you into this paradise” he waved to the empty room in a wide sweep.

“I saw a kid getting bullied” the blonde shrugged. “Told the harassers they were pathetic and they ended up trying to gang up on me, but I guess I had extraordinary height over them”.

“You certainly do” Kuroo dragged his eyes showily down the blondes body, earning a glare from Tsukishima.

“I guess it looked like pretty serious and a teacher came running to the ‘rescue’, and then happily put me in detention”.

“Mmm love me a good person who does bad things for good reasons” Kuroo smiled.

“The other idiots only got house points taken away” he muttered and then sighed. “So, what about you” Tsukishima raised his eyebrows, eyes surveying his face as if he were trying to guess his crimes just by appearance. 

“Agh so listen to this” Kuroo grabbed the bottom of his chair and scooted it across to the blondes desk. Tsukishima immediately leaned back, looking peeved at the intrusion of his personal space. 

“My bro, Bokuto. My Bro-kuto, he’s been after this guy for ages, absolutley head over heels for this stupid Slytherin-”

“Im a Slytherin” Tsukishima stated.

“And Italy is a place on earth. Houses don't really matter to me” Kuroo waved him away with a hand.

“Weird coming from a Gryffindor, I thought you were all loud prideful assholes” Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow, smirking a malevolent grin.

“Wow stereotyping are we” Kuroo said. “Coming from the house that only raises pure bloods hell bent on bringing muggles to their knees” he sneered.

At this, Tsukishima remained silent, pushing his glasses up on his nose, huffing a breath. “I have muggle parents” he muttered.

Kuroo clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth.  
“Wow how rare. Sure you should be in Slytherin” he scoffed.

“Look whos stereotyping now” Tsukishima looked at him, distained. 

Kuroo isn't usually this rude, but the blonde had awaken frustration in him. He should really calm down. Just breathe. Why is he getting so riled up?, he banters like this with people all the time. If this could even be considered bantering and not a heated argument.

“Sorry sorry, that was mean of me” Kuroo scratched the side of his head. “One of my best friends is from slytherin, Kemma”.

“Kozume Kenma, the prefect?” Tsukishima, inquired

“Know him?” Kuroo asked playfully.

“He’s certainly an upgrade from you. You can't even tell a story right”.

“Wow, if you’d let me actually finish” Kuroo stuck out his tongue at him.

Tsukishima looked up at the clock, sending Kuroo into a wave of fury. Was his presence really that of which one would want to escape from at the earliest convenience.

“Go on then” the blonde drawled, settling a chin in his hand to look at him, looking as disinterested as ever.

Kuroo rolled his eyes, choosing to overlook the youngers budding disrespect. If he were to upset Tsukishima, he would be pushed away and Kuroo would have to suffer the rest of detention in not only silence, but probably lingering death stares from the blonde.

“Okay so he's been after this Slytherin guy. It’s driving me insane, cause i’ll be using the sleeping quarters to study and he’ll just come in and start ranting about this guys black curly hair, his beautiful green eyes, how smart and sweet he is. And i'm like-”. Kuroo threw his hands in the air.

“This sucks, stop talking about him so much, I have homework to do yadda yadda yadda” Kuroo makes talking gestures with his right hand, the action piquing interest from the blonde as he smiled behind his hand.

“And guess what he does” Kuroo yells.

“What” Tsukishima deadpans.

“The bastard casts a jinx without me knowing it, giving me an unlucky streak and then leaves” Kuroo scoffs. “I fell down like four staircases and spilled ink over my magical creatures homework before realizing something was wrong”.

At this Tsukishima cracks a wide grin in amusement. 

“Hey now!” Kuroo points an accusatory finger at him. “Don't go laughing at my bad fortune. My pants fell down in front of like ten girls while walking to quidditch pitch” he wailed.

Tsukishima was now full on laughing, voice warm and bouncy behind his hand as his eyes squeezed shut. Kuroo knew he was supposed to be upset about this. He was laughing at Kuroos own foolishness. But something stopped him from feeling all bitter at the sight of the young boy, cheeks flushed as he snickered with entertainment, and Kuroo found himself smiling along.

“Should I mention that they also fell down during practice and I fell off the broom trying to pull them up” Kuroo said. “Nearly got hit by a bludger, twice. Guess my kermit the frog underpants really enthralled the lust of the ball”.

And that did. The unbelievable happened. Tsukishima, while laughing...snorted…  
As soon as it had happened, the blondes eyes had widened and he stopped.  
There was a moment of silence.  
It was Kuroos turn to laugh now, his howling echoing off the high ceilings as he leant forward, arm clenched around his stomach.

“Shut up!” Tsukishima scowled. Kuroo only laughed harder.  
“You sound like a flobber worm pigging out on cabbage!” Tsukishima mocked, cheeks an ungodly dark shade of pink. 

“And you sound like-” Kuroo broke away laughing again. “Y-you sound like Tsukishima” Kuroo stuttered out before laughing again.

“Did you just use my own name as an insult!?” the blonde boy bristled. “What's so amusing about my laugh anyway. I should still be sniggering about how those poor girls had to see you like that”.

Kuroo's laughter finally starting trailing down as Tsukishima ridiculed him some more.  
“Kuroo Tetsurou, a real lady killer” Tsukishima sung sarcastically.

“Well” Kuroo huffed out a breath, smile still clinging to his face after the bout of laughter.  
“That maybe would worry me if I were into girls…”. Kuroo raised his eyebrows, observing the way Tsukishima's red cheeks got impossibly redder. 

And that's when Kuroo noticed. 

Tsukishima was...cute. His blonde hair was tousled and wavy, jawline sharp, blue eyes shimmering like a summer's lagoon, looking unique and engaging behind the black rim of glasses that if anything, added to his charm. He was tall, taller than him. How was that possible, he was two years below Kuroo. Yet he oddly liked the height. It seemed to be growing on him...haha get it growin-

“Hey, you two” a voice yelled from in front of them. Hana had circled around in her chair to look at them “Better shut up, the teacher will be back any moment to end detention” she pointed to the clock.

Kuroos mouth fell as he saw that indeed the hand had spun rather fast. He turned to see that Tsukishima was also surprised as his gaze wandered to Kuroo with almost questioning eyes, as if Kuroo had bewitched the clock to make it go faster. 

Kuroo only grinned, gave a silent shrug and then stood up, walked back to his desk and fell back into his seat just as the doors to the room opened and the teacher strode in. 

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

The next morning was one of which he had to get up early. Kuroo wasn't opposed to getting up at the asscrack of dawn as a reason to do quidditch practice, but he still found himself wandering into the great hall, groggily running the back of his hand over his eyes. 

Even though the sun had just risen and the next class didn't start in 2 hours, prefects were already up, eating their breakfasts before their duties, as well as other early rising students who sat at the dining tables, a soft lull of voices accompanying the giant walls of the hall. And out of these early risers, Kuroo spotted one Tsukishima Kei out of the ten others sitting at the long Slytherin table. 

Sometimes Kuroo wondered if the housing system was dependent on which students they thought would get along with each other and would encourage one another in great strides or if it was rather like the houses were created as a source of rivalry and to give the school year more of a challenge between studying and classes. It was kind of both, he guessed. 

Ignoring the waves and calls of the already seated Gryffindor quidditch team at their dining table, he easily strolled over to the table where green table clothes lay and students with serpent eyes watched him approach. Silently, like a cat, Kuroo slid up behind Tsukishima who was eating toast and easily absorbed in a book. With a quick motion, he wrapped his arms around the blondes chest. Tsukishima gave a surprise jerk and a small yelp at the hands falling across his chest and whipped around to take in Kuroos beaming smile.

“Tsukki!” he sung, playfully.  
The response to that was Tsukishima shoving off his arms with a heated red sprawled across his face. From anger or embarrassment, he didn't know.

“This isnt your table, or are you so dumb you forget what house you were in” Tsukishima spat, turning back around. “And don't call me that”.

Kuroo shook his head before sitting down on the blondes right. At the action, several Slytherins around him sat up and pushed away from the table. “See ya round, Tsukishima” they said, uneasily looking between Kuroo and the blonde before strutting off with heads raised high. Of course they left because of him.

“I'm already the product of hatred, fantastic!” Kuroo smiled, pumping a fist in the air. Tsukishima's own shoulders caved in as he leaned over his book more.

“What are you doing up so early” Tsukishima sighed, giving into the conversation that Kuroo would surely push him into, even if he forced away his attempts.

“Quidditch practice!” Kuroo smiled, gesturing at his robes which differed from daily class ones.

Tsukishima ended up cocking an eyebrow. “And here I thought it was because you didn't want that bed head to develop any more before birds started calling it their home”.

Kuroo smirked. “Actually, not to brag, but im the captain of the team”.

“That was totally a brag” Tsukishima snorted, turning the page of what looked like a potions homework book.

“Need any help with those questions” Kuroo leant forward and tapped the book. 

Tsukishima huffed a breath.  
“I'm the top of the class, I don't dare say I really need your help”.

“Ooo a brag” Kuroo quipped.

“No it’s not” Tsukishima muttered.

“Yes it is”.

“No it’s not”

...

“Yes”

“No”

“Yes”.

“What are you doing at my table” Tsukishima immediately straightened his back, turning to give a view of his face to Kuroo

And Kuroo stared at his skin, smooth like the plains, lips soft and pouty, eyes bright and blue like the sky, the water, the colour of a himalayan poppy. Kuroo was sure that if he recited any of this to the blonde, he would be thoroughly whacked on the back of his head for being so stupidly mesmerized by someone's eyes.

“Maybe the food over here is better” Kuroo suggested, giving his best non committed shrug.

Tsukishima gave him a look as if he didn't believe him, and that same look forced Kuroo to lean forward and grab the nearest food that lay upon the great halls dining plates. Snagging what looked like a bowl of chocolates, he grinned easily and popped a few in his mouth before crunching down on it.

Abruptly his eyes widened at the tangy taste surrounded by milk chocolate, lingering on his tongue. He peered over at Tsukishima who looked as if he were fighting to hold back a smile. Kuroo gave a few more quizzical bites and then swallowed it.

“Hey uh…” Kuroo began.

The blonde let out a few muffled sounds from where his lips were sealed tight, trying to hold in a laugh. “Yes”.

“What the hell are these” Kuroo scraped his tongue around his teeth with interest.

“Why, Kuroo, those were cockroach clusters, and boy did you just eat a lot of them” Tsukishima broke out into a large grin. 

Kuroo binked a few times before he was sticking his tongue out, rubbing it down with the corner of his quidditch robes, making out a few disgusted hacking and bleh noises in between as Tsukishima sniggered loudly from beside him. 

“BLEH! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME” he cried out, reaching forward to grab a goblet of water and sculling from it.

“Maybe the food over here is better” Tsukishima quoted Kuroo, turning back to read his potions book.

“That's it” Kuroo growled. 

The blonde didn't even glance up.  
“Don't get all butthurt over- AHH!” Tsukishima yelped as Kuroo grabbed a handful of the bug chocolates and pushed them towards his mouth. 

“Fuck off!” Tsukishima yelled, as Kuroo lorded over him on his knees, forcefully trying to get him to eat. Tsukishima grabbed at his arm, pushing away. Kuroo was basically on top of him at that point, laughter emitting from his mouth at the blondes struggle. Tsukishima looked like he was about to give in and plummet backwards off his chair to escape when suddenly a voice interrupted their commotion.

“E-excuse me” the voice inquired. 

Both of them swiveled their heads to take in that of a first year, lanky with brown hair and freckles extended across his round face. 

Tsukishima gave Kuroo a glare and the raven backed off, knowing that look told him that he should try atleast act somewhat civil.

“Yes, what is it?” the blonde huffed, dragging his hands over his robes, expelling non existent dust. Kuroo rolled his eyes at the dramatization. 

‘I uh...my names Yamaguchi Tadashi!” the boy squeaked. “You saved me from those bullies yesterday and- and you” he abruptly bowed. “You got in a lot of trouble and I just wanted to say thankyou!”.

Kuroo and Tsukishima gave the boy a blank stare as he returned to normal height. Tsukishima blinked a few times before looking towards Kuroo, as if he had experience with this and knew what to do. All he did was shrug.

“Ah, that's okay, just try not to be so much of a target next ti-” Tsukishima's sentence cut off as Kuroo sharply kicked him in the shin underneath the table. 

Yamaguchi looked between the two with bright innocent eyes. 

“Its fine, you're welcome” Tsukishima huffed out, recovering from the blow. 

The boy nodded intensely before turning on his heel and pacing quickly back to the hufflepuff table.  
Tsukishima leant down to rub at his ankle, hissing.

“Got a mean kick there, captain” Tsukishima said sarcastically.

“A compliment!” Kuroo clenched his robes over his heart, ignoring the obvious mockery.

“Don't get used to it” Tsukishima muttered.

“Looks like you have a little admirer now” Kuroo chuckled, nodding off to where Yamaguchi was now talking with another first year girl, blonde and short, pointing over at them while talking enthusiastically. 

“God I hope not” Tsukishima sighed.

“Well, as much as I would love to stick around, got a team to unleash my relentless wisdom onto!” Kuroo sung, pushing himself up from the table.

“Yea, yea, go away already” Tsukishima groaned. But Kuroo noticed that the rudeness had eased from the blondes voice, the taunt only half hearted. Maybe he was warming up to him?

“Sir yes sir” Kuroo saluted, and then he walked off from the table. Strolling, ambling walking... when he suddenly stopped, turned around, and headed back to the table.

“Hey Tsukki” Kuroo tapped the blondes shoulder.

“What” the blonde asked, turning to look at him.

And Kuroos chest bloomed with heat as he realized the boy did not reject the nickname before the rest of his answer. Yup, warming up to him for sure.

“I just remembered, I never finished telling you how I did get into detention”.

“Oh” is all Tsukishima said.

“What about we meet after classes in the library. You can study potions or something” Kuroo suggested, smiling gleefully. 

Tsukishima twisted his mouth around, looked at the ceiling as if pondering the pros and cons.  
“I told you im already at the top of potions” he stated, eyes falling back onto him.

“Okay, then what about you teach me potions. It's not exactly my worst, but I wouldnt say its my best either” Kuroo chuckled, hand scratching the back of his head like habit.

“What do I get in exchange” the blonde pried, eyes narrowing.

“You get to hear the rest of my tale, of course” Kuroo supplied. It was weak, he had nothing to offer, and he was expecting to get shot down immediately. It was a wonder why he was even standing here and trying in the first place. Why would he want to spend so much time with someone who would only berate him and-

“Sure” Tsukishima said, smiling a soft smile.

Oh...and that's why, Kuroo thought as his heartbeat picked up in his chest at the small smile gracing the blondes face.

“G-great” he stuttered. “Bye!” he quickly shuffled off towards the open doors of the hall, trying to ignore the snicker of laughter that sounded from behind him.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

The sky was yellow bleeding into blue as the sun climbed the sky and Kuroo stepped out onto the quidditch pitch, hand cupped over his eyes as he scoured the field of players warming up, some already playing a small game up on their brooms. 

“Aye, where’s Bokuto?” Kuroo asked, approaching the stragglers of his team still on the ground.

“Probably still sleeping” shrugged Iwaizumi, picking leaves out of the tail end of his broom. It was a wonder how those even got in there if he was the teams keeper...

Kuroo scowled, crossing his arms. “Uh, he better fucking not be”.

Hinata, who was kneeling down on the ground, opening the case of balls, looked up and squinted at Kuroo. “I think I saw him with Akaashi!” he grinned.

Kuroo spun to look at Hinata, scowl morphing deeper. Hinata squeaked, falling back on his ass. 

“Shut up, dumbass” Kageyama snapped quietly from beside him.

“Was he heading in the direction of the pitch?” Kuroo asked, sliding a hand up into his hair, exasperated.

Hinata's eyes darted from side to side. “I think so” he said timidly, fiddling with his hands.

Kuroo threw his head up and groaned. “Okay, okay” he said, looking towards Iwaizumi. “Can you make a practice game, split up the beaters and chasers, use the subs if you need to”.

Iwaizumi gave him a firm nod. “Consider it done”.

“Where are the beaters anyway?” Kuroo looks up to the sky, trying to make out the blurs of flying brooms and a tossed quaffle. 

“Tanaka and Noya were the ones who started the game” Kageyama grumbled. “They couldn't even wait for us to get ready”.

“Of course” Kuroo sighed, shaking his head with a smile. “At least they have passion. I’ll go find our star chaser. You got it covered, right?” Kuroo blinked towards Iwaizumi, who gave a thumbs up before kicking off the ground.

“What about you Kuroo? Are you going to practice with us?” Hinata asked, eyes wide with excitement as he fiddled with getting the snitch out, its gold gleaming with the sunlight. A sort of soaring feeling rose in his chest as his eyes settled on the ball. He could almost feel the wind rushing past his ears, the taste of metal and victory on his tongue...

“Depends on when wonder boy gets back” Kuroo sighs, folding his arms.

“Hey, isn't that Bokuto over there?” Kageyama asked, head tilted as he looked behind Kuroo.  
Kuroo immediately swung around to find Bokuto walking onto the pitch, flanked by...of course it was him.

“There's our ace” Kuroo smiled, threateningly as the two newcomers approached. Bokuto was still shrugging on his red robes, passed over by Akaashi Keiji who was dressed in his own daily ones.

“Hey, hey, hey! Sorry I'm late” Bokuto yelled, eagerly, stopping before them.

“Right” Kuroo narrowed his eyes towards Akaashi. Hinata and Kageyama shared a look before grabbing their own brooms and boarding them to partake in the practice.

“And is Mr Slytherin over here going to join the game, or is he just going to observe all our plays, a spy for the other team” he sneered.

At this Akaashis eyes widened slightly. Bokuto let out an undignified yelp in protest.

“I would never do that, pain in the ass Kuroo, trust me” Akaashi stated, tucking a lock of midnight curls behind his ear.

“Akaashis just gonna watch from the side” Bokuto smiled, rocking back and forth on his heels. “And then I'll walk him to class” Bokuto turned to look at Akaashi. “Right?” he asked.

Akaashi nodded with a “I don't see why not Bokuto”.

Kuroo sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. This was supposed to be a private practice. Bokuto couldn't just go bringing in another- ...a person from a different house! His brain shot back to the memory of Tsukki when telling him that houses didn't matter to Kuroo. Was he being a hypocrite here? No, no this was different. When it came to sports, it was all about the houses. But the way Bokuto was looking at him, and god Akaashi was already here…

“I guess we can just do the normal practice. No secret plays or combos, okay” Kuroo stared pointedly at Bokuto.

“Not even the-” Bokuto began, but was immediately hushed by Kuroo, finger to lips.

“Thankyou, very much” Akaashi smiled, politely from Bokuto's side before walking off to the seating around the pitch. 

Well Bokuto had been right, he was at least very pretty. Though, he did just subtly slide in calling Kuroo an ass. What was it with Gryffindors falling for Slytherins? Anyways, maybe Kuroo shouldn't of been such an uptight jerk...he’ll fix that later.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when a solid warm clapped over his shoulder with furor. Two amber eyes coloured shiny with excitation set on Kuroos face.

“Thanks Bro! I totally wanna show off to Akaashi, ya know” he grinned as the two of them made their way to their brooms.

“Yea yea I get it. Just this once though, okay” Kuroo snorted, brushing the hand off his shoulder.

“Totally man, but did you see his eyes! Totally as bright and green as like…”.

Bright and green like emeralds? The budding of a new sprout on the first day of spring? A crisp green apple under teeth, puncturing the skin, sticky sweetness lying beneath? 

“ Like grass!” Bokuto finished the thought.

Kuroo visibly wilted. Maybe he should stop pretending everyone else was as romantic as him.

“So pretty” Bokuto nodded to himself, mooning over his choice of words.

“Yep...green as grass, buddy” Kuroo nodded along.

And yet he couldn't help but think that if Akaashis eyes were pretty, then Tsukishimas were beautiful.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

It was early afternoon when Kuroo stepped out his last class of the day. His back held a constant ache from leaning over to write notes and his eyes stung with tiredness. Everytime he blinked, his eyelids threatened to stay closed and wrap him in a dark warm world where he could just faint and never wake up again. 

Yet, he marched forward and to the Gryffindor common room so he could drop off his books and hurry to the library. Then he could see Tsukishima and Tsukishima would banter with him, and it would most likely be the most interesting thing to happen to him after hours of cramming knowledge into his brain. With this in mind, he straightened his posture and picked up his pace. 

Even if he groaned and moaned at all the steps on his way up to the tower, his calves throbbing and his lungs burning from his strained fatigue, it was all worth it when his first foot fell into the library and spotted Tsukishima Kei. The blonde was sitting towards the back of the library at a long table. As Kuroo walked closer, he realized Tsukishima was in fact sitting in a large red velvet arm chair, one leg hooked over the arm of it, which looked all too comfortable compared to the identical wooden chairs lining every table in the library. A few other students laid out on different far out tables, mainly first years.

“Greetings your majesty” Kuroo gave his best charming smile as he stopped at the table. The blonde raised his eyes from the book in his lap, taking in the newcomer that was interrupting his much preferred silence. When he realized it was Kuroo, he sighed and closed the novel.

“Brought your potions book?” Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow, looking around Kuroo as if he were hiding it behind his back.

Kuroo smiled, opened his mouth to speak, but fell flat. His eyebrows drew together and lips pinched into a straight line. “Okay, so I forgot. But-”.

Tsukishima groaned, letting his head fall back on the chair.

“BUT” Kuroo repeated, lifting a finger in the air.

Tsukishima pulled his gaze to the raven haired, waiting for him to give his excuse. 

Kuroo waggled the finger a few times, eyes scanning the room.  
“Yea I got nothing” he stated, pulling out a wooden chair to sit across from the blonde.

“Want that to be an armchair?” Tsukishima asked, placing his book on the table between them. Ooo, his full undivided attention, Kuroo likey.

“Why, so you can show off your clearly more progressed transfiguration skills?” Kuroo sung, lacing his fingers together underneath his chin, leaning on his elbows.

“Well, teachers expect quite high performances in transfiguration for someone who wants to become an auror” Tsukishima spoke in a monotone voice, as if the sentence held no useful information.

“You want to be an auror?” Kuroo asked, perking his head up. 

An Auror is a member of an elite unit of highly-trained, specialist officers within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Magic trained to investigate crimes related to the Dark Arts, and apprehend or detain Dark wizards and witches.

It was a hard job to get, and something very difficult to strive for. Kuroo had not met many people with such goals before. 

“Yea, so what” Tsukishima asked, lips twisting. “Are you underestimating me or something”.

Kuroo immediately brought his hands up to his chest as if pleading innocence.  
“No, no, I think you'd actually be perfect for the position. I don't know you too well, but it seems you have the qualities of someone who could pull off the three years of training with ease”. 

“Are you trying to suck up to me for any particular reason?” Tsukishima's lips curled into a smirk.

Kuroo was beginning to be able to tell the difference between the blondes smirks, and this he found was his playful smirk. Not rude, not looking down on him.

“Maybe having an auror friend in the future would come in handy” Kuroo grinned and leaned further forward on his elbows.

“Planning on committing many crimes in the future? I might have to arrest you right here and now” Tsukishima retorted, mirroring Kuroos position and leaning forward too. His smirk still played across his face. His eyes shone, lively and mysterious behind his glasses. 

Was this flirting!? Was he flirting back. Oh god and he was doing it so well too. Kuroo could feel his heart thrumming, his skin turning hot, his mouth drying up of any moisture. Kuroo liked him, he liked him a lot, and it suckeddddd.

Kuroo pulled back, feeling that if he let this go on any further, surely his face would ignite with flames. He averted his gaze, scratching the back of his hand. “No, not really” he managed to choke out. 

“Mm, so what do you want to be then”. Tsukishima also leaned back. Kuroo hoped that it wasn't because the blonde had noticed how panicked the raven haired had looked when Tsukishima had bantered back, needing to pull away. If he could count on anything, it was that Tsukishima was probably very observant.

“Magical creatures” Kuroo shrugged.

“That wasn't my question” Tsukishima deadpanned.

“W-well I don't know if I really like bowtruckles and for sure thunderbirds are so cute” Kuroo ranted, eyes darting around. “Mutrlaps are agh so cool, even though everyone just thinks their ugly, but I haven't really thought about it too much and-”.

“Kuroo want do you want to be” Tsukishima interrupted, face abnormally very serious.

“A dragon breeder” Kuroo blurted out.

Tsukishima's eyes widened with interest. 

“I know there's a huge controversy about dragons and how they are too difficult to control, too dangerous. But really they're just misunderstood!” Kuroo spouted, throwing his hands around.

“Youre talking about it like I was about to argue against you” Tsukishima spoke, and Kuroo stopped, eyes flicking to the blondes face. He gulped.

“Sorry, I've just met too many people who have told me to...pick another ambition” his gaze fell to the table.

“On the contrary, I think dragons are wonderful misconceived creatures” Tsukishima shook his head. “And if I may return the compliment, you would also suit that position very well”.

Kuroo sharply inhaled, looking up at the blonde, who gave an awkward attempt at a reassuring smile.  
“Yea?” he asked, voice soft.

Abruptly, Kuroo felt something brush his ankle, a curl of fluffy tail wrapping between his legs as a cat paced underneath the table, rubbing its face on the posts. Kuroo leaned down, hands clasping under the animals belly as he drew up and placed the cat on the table.

As soon as the cat was released, it turned its attention to using Kuroos hands as scratching posts. It brushed its face along his knuckles, and he let a few of his long fingers scrape under the cats chin. It’s tortoise shell pattern rippled with purrs as it leant into the touch.

“Yea, for sure” Tsukishima confirmed, propping his hand up to lean his face on, eyes following the cat.

Kuroo ran his hands along the cats furry back.  
“This is Pascal, he's a good friend” Kuroo smiled.

“Friend?” Tsukishima asked, curiously.

“Yea, we talk sometimes” Kuroo watched the cats whiskers twitch.

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes. “Huh...”. He pushed his glasses up on his nose, exhaling.  
“So are you going to tell me how you got into detention. You know, if we're not going to study” Tsukishima added, grumpily. 

At that Kuroo beamed. The cat jumped down into his lap and prinked his robes before curling up into a ball, as if it didn't want to be awake to hear Kuroos rambling.

“Ah, so, do you like eggs?” Kuroo asked.

Tsukishima frowned. “I suppose”.

“Well what about rotten eggs” Kuroo smirked devilishly.

“Who in their right mind would like- oh my god just hurry up and tell the story properly” Tsukishima scrubbed his hand over his face with exasperation.

“Okay okay” Kuroo conceded. “So Bokuto ended up jinxing me and I thought, hey why shouldn't he get a taste of his own medicine, i'll jinx him back. So that's what I did. I placed a spell that made Bokutos bed smell like rotten eggs when he opened the covers” Kuroo grinned, shrugging. 

“Wouldn't that just make the whole sleeping quarters stink of it, affecting you included” Tsukishima pointed out.

Kuroos grin faltered and then fell off his face into a pout as he looked off to the side.  
“Worse, it stunk up the whole common room and through to the corridor,” he muttered. “Teacher walked by and smelt it, traced the spell back to me and took away 40 points from Gryffindor as well as putting me into detention”.

“You get put in detention regularly, hm?” Tsukishima asked.

“It's like a second home by now” Kuroo fluttered his eyelashes.

The blondes lips quirked up if only slightly noticeable from his neutral expression.  
“A 7th year should be a better role model, don't you think?” he teased.

“Why should I when you're walking around like that, smart and sexy on two sticks” Kuroo grinned.

“Do try and keep it in your pants for the sake of the first years in this library. While I might overlook it, others might not be so keen on asking you if that's a snake in your robes or are you just happy to see me” Tsukishima raised his eyebrows at him.

Kuroo blanched.  
“Was that a joke!?” he asked.

“What do you consider a joke” the blonde questioned.

“My life’s a joke” Kuroo easily combated.

“Let’s be serious, Kuroo” Tsukishima shook his head. “For your life to be a joke, you'd have to be funny” Tsukishima quipped with a smirk. He pushed up from his chair and grabbed at his book, stuffing it into his rucksack.

“Hey, hey, where you going?” Kuroo asked, eyes jumping to take in Tsukishima adjusting his robes.

“I have a 5th year meeting. Something about OWLS and NEWTS and our future” Tsukishima rolled his eyes, walking around the end of the table. The cat jumped off his lap as Kuroo twisted to follow him with his eyes.

“Want me to walk you?” Kuroo asked eagerly.

Tsukishima paused, scanned the raven haired and his face, looking deep in thought. Kuroo felt himself inwardly recoil under the analyzing stare.

The blonde clicked his tongue in annoyance.  
“That's not necessary”.

And then he was walking off, promenading between the overlooking shelves of dusty books until his figure turned the corner, leaving Kuroos eyes watching nothing.

Beside him, the cats ears flickered, looking at him with big glassy moon eyes, almost knowing.  
“Shut up” Kuroo scoffed at the cat before getting up himself and walking out.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

It was another whole week before Kuroo saw Tsukishima again. Kuroo had been busy. He’d wake up in a rush, skip breakfast and get to his classes early, reading his notes on the way, nearly walking into anything and everything, complaints surrounding from all around him. And then as soon as his classes were finished, he would hole away in the common room, books and papers spread all around him. Not to mention quidditch practice and the way it tore away at his physical energy, whereas school work ate his mental energy.

The reason Kuroo had been trying desperately to get ahead of all of his work was because of the upcoming triwizard tournament. When everyone had heard about it, the hall had broken into cheers and uproars of excitement that two other schools would be temporarily boarding with them. One school, the Durmstrang Institute and the other, Beauxbatons. While other magic schools existed, Hogwarts had a fun rivalry and close long lasting relationships with these schools. What most excited the students of Hogwarts, was that along with the Durmstrang school, came the very famous quidditch player Ushijima Wakatoshi. Kuroo could basically see all the girls fanning themselves in their dining hall seats at the thought.

But that wasn't what delighted Kuroo. It was that he had been called into the headmasters office and explained that the first round of the tournament would involve that of dragons. Kuroo had immediately been enthusiastic to jump at the proposition that he could shadow the head dragon wrangler visiting their school and get a second hand experience. He would observe and even help miniaturize the dragons to be placed and later on picked out of a bag by the future competitors. 

And so Kuroo had to hurry up and get all his work out the way. A promise that Kuroo would not let his grades fall while helping out with the tournament, as his grades were the very thing that got him picked for this important task in the first place.

To celebrate, Bokuto, Kenma and Akaashi were all dragging him down to hogsmeade. Kuroo wasn't that keen on it in the beginning. Having only just finished shoving his workpile out the way, he desperately wanted to sleep his remaining free days away. But Bokuto had wildly disagreed, arguing that instead he deserved a break and definitely 100 butter beers before he was allowed to slink back to his bed. Akaashi had also backed him up with a more scientific side, saying that being cooped up led to no stimulation for the brain cells or whatever.

Kuroo and Akaashi had somewhat become friends over the past week as they bonded over Kuroos struggles with his relentless workload. Akaashi, even though being a year below them, took very advanced classes and was constantly on the receiving end of extra homework. 

He had fit nicely into their small friend group, especially with Kenma who was also in Akaashis own year. They both shared somewhat similar reserved personalities and hidden sneakiness. Kuroo often walked in on Kenma and Akaashi teasing poor Bokuto into a frenzy, telling Bokuto that he had a howler delivered that morning in the dining hall after he had stepped out for quidditch practice. Sometimes Kuroo forgot the two younger boys were both Slytherin, until something like this happened.

And so that is how a whole entire week passed without Kuroo seeing even as little as a blonde tuft sitting at the Slytherin table, walking down the halls or relaxing in the library. Not that he knew what Tsukishima did outside of his obvious routine of eating, travelling or studying. Kuroo found himself thinking about the blonde more than he thought he would over the week, wondering just what kind of person he must be. He thirsted for knowledge. The same knowledge that had the sorting hat nearly putting him in Ravenclaw.

He was getting withdrawals as if he were being weaned off of the blondes presence, until the morning they all started to head out to hogsmeade. The group were laughing and chattering as they made their way out of the entrance to the grounds. The giant clock with its cogs swung above them, swaying mechanically, heavy pushes of sound and air moving with it. In the large brick tunnel entrance however, Kuroo stopped when he saw Tsukishima walking towards them. Immediately he perked up, like the ears on a dog.

“Tsukki!” he called out, stopping in his tracks. His friends were forced to also stop and stand beside him, looking between Kuroo and the newcomer with confusion.

Tsukishima who had been muttering under his breath, hands clenched at his sides while looking at his feet, peered up towards the raven haired boy. His eyebrows rose in surprise and his face which was scrunched, smoothed out into a neutral expression.

“Kuroo” the blonde stated, more than said as he stopped before the group. 

Now that he thought of it, Kuroo was in fact very happy that on the weekend they were allowed to wear their own clothes and not their long black robes. Because Tsukishima was very simply dressed in a thin white long sleeved shirt, collar dipping as low as to reveal his sharp collar bones, accompanied by black pants and heavy duty black boots. A pair of headphones lay around his neck as always. Kuroo felt embarrassed at his own clothes, which was just a well worn vibrant red open jacket over a dark grey shirt and black pants. 

“Haven't seen you around recently” Kuroo smiled.

“Well whenever I happen to see you in the hallways, you'll be pushing your way through people, book open and a sour expression on your face” Tsukishima twisted his mouth to the side, as if accusing him.

“You mean what you looked like just right now” Kuroo pointed out.

Tsukishima's brows lowered and he looked away.  
“Yea well a bad start to a day earns a bad mood”.

“Why don't you come with us to hogsmeade? We can dine on cockroach chocolates” Kuroo gleams, gesturing to his friends who had been watching silently from the side. Bokuto looked ecstatic, hardly containing a grin, as if he wanted to go over and viciously shake the blondes hand, introducing himself. Kuroo could see the only thing holding him back was Akaashi pinching the back of Bokuto's shirt firmly. 

Tsukishima seemed to also be observing the group of his friends, and then he was turning back to Kuroo.  
“No thankyou”.

“Huh” Kuroo pouted and twisted his body to watch as the boy breezed past him.

“See you round, Captain” Tsukishima turned to smirk playfully before strutting away, shirt billowing behind him as he walked. It left Kuroo staring with a thudding heart. That goddamn smirk, why did it do these things to him. He sighed heavily, eyes fluttering closed momentarily.

“Wow, is it me or did it just get a whole lot gayer in here” Akaashi said in a monotone voice. Kuroo whipped around to find the boy with a hand over his nose, other hand waving in front of his face as if trying to clear the air. Bokuto snickered at his side, and even Kenma was giving off a sly knowing smile.

“Hardy-har-har, Kuroo has a crush” Kuroo sneered, turning and marching away, his heart still beating heavily in his chest.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

Kuroo was surrounded by liquids, some dull and colourless, dark and ominous. Some bright and vivid, contagious with colour. He poked at one particular product, a bottle, sharp and thin at the bottom, growing larger towards the top. It was filled with a green vile, glowing and luminescent. When he poked it, bubbles sprang to the surface and the bottle vibrated in its holder. The shops walls were dim, accustomed to the darkness to show how vibrant all of the potions were, glistening individually on their wracks.

Kuroo had been dragged into a potions and pranks store by the collar of his neck, Bokuto pulling him past the doors and promising to meet with Keiji and Kozume at the three broomsticks later.

“Hey Bo, why are we here again? Didn't we agree to lay off pranks for a while?” Kuroo cocked an eyebrow at the boy who was trying on a pair of pink sunglasses, blinking around the room owlishly. 

“Cause, I wanted to talk about Akaashi! But Akaashi was with us, and Akaashi wouldn't like it if we talked about Akaashi in front of Akaashi!” Bokuto exclaimed, popping the glasses back on their wrack. 

“Rightio, why do we have to talk about Akaashi then” Kuroo huffed, eyes scanning over a row of puking pastilles.

“Well I dunno, I thought he liked me” Bokuto wailed. “It’s like I have to pull him everywhere and he always seems kind of pissed off when I suggest he does something better than studying”.

“How do you know he's pissed?” Kuroo asks.

“His expression!”.

“Bokuto, that might just be his normal face” Kuroo chuckled.

“No, I know him well enough to know his pissed face looks like hes trying to kill me with the force. Like this”. Bokuto attempted to imitate Akaashi with a contorted face of a straight lined mouth and clenched eyes, like he was constipated.

“Maybe he doesn't want to be pulled everywhere and anywhere” Kuroo suggests.

Bokutos shoulders seem to cave in and he huffs, pouting.  
“But I want to go everywhere and anywhere, and I want someone to do it with me. No offense dude, our adventures are really great”.

“Akaashi’s just not that kind of dude. He's more into studying rather than trying to see if he can climb up to astronomy tower from the ground” Kuroo scans the walls of the shop, disinterested.

“Man that was tiring” Bokuto shakes his head.

“I gotta say, it was hilarious seeing you scaling the building outside my classroom window that day” Kuroo chuckled. “But, what im trying to say is, maybe you should compromise and do something you'd both like”.

Kuroo held up a vase full of blue powder. When he looked closer he realized it was moving like sentient grains of sand or bugs crawling over each other. Man magic could be creepy. He didnt even wanna start to imagine what results would come with that prank.

“I bet Akaashi would like me better if I were a notebook and quill” Bokuto moped.

“Bokuto” Kuroo places the vase back. “You” he grabs his shoulders “Are a great guy” he says, tone serious. “ But do you really want a relationship with him? I thought you just wanted to be friends”.

“At first I did…” Bokuto trails off. Kuroo releases the grip on his shoulders.

“But you two are so different. Actually, no, not different, the complete opposite” Kuroo corrects himself.

“You like Tsukishima” Bokuto points out. “I've never talked to him, but I've heard he's cold and snarky”.

Kuroo grits his teeth.  
“He’s not like that. I thought you didn't listen to rumours”.

“I don't, I don't” Bokuto protests. “I'm just tryna argue that I think opposites can attract. Proven by the fact that I love Akaashi”.

“You love him?” Kuroo asks, suddenly bewildered.

Bokuto groans.  
“Well...maybe”.

“Then tell h i m” Kuroo drawls.

“You tell Tsukishima” Bokuto retorts, nose scrunching.

“I don't love Tsukishima” Kuroo rolls his eyes.

“No, but you like him” Bokuto almost sung the words in mockery.

“This isn't about me and him, this is about you and Akaashi. Get your shit together, Bo” Kuroo furrows his eyebrows.

“Usually you’re more supporting” Bokuto huffs, staring down at the ground.

“Im sorry man” Kuroo sighs. “I like Akaashi, I really do, i'm just saying that he's very…” he pondered for the words. “Secretive? If he liked you back in the slightest, he would make sure to hide it very well”.

Bokuto gawped. “I don't want him to hide it”.

“You wanna know if he likes you?” Kuroo asks.

Bokuto nods enthusiastically.

“Then ask him” he grins. 

Bokuto groans again, throwing his hands over his face. Kuroo turned to push a spherical bottle back into place, when suddenly there was a smash. Kuroo drew back with a grimace and peered off to his left.

“Bokuto” he sighed as he watched pink sparkly liquid crawl across the floor like a virus from where it was dropped. He edged away as it threatened to reach and cling onto his shoes.

“Gwah, i'm sorry! I'll pay for that” Bokuto yelped at the shop owner, who had turned around from reading his magazine at the counter, the cover images moving with people. Honestly it didn't look like he cared, tired eyes and brown hair flopping against his forehead. Must just be an employee.

Now Bokuto was poorly attempting to scrape the pink back into its bottle.

“What are you doing?” Kuroo laughed as he struggled to get it in while it seeped thinner across the wooden slats of the floor.

“Well if i'm gonna pay for it, I at least wanna be able to use some of it”.

Kuroo was about to crouch down and help when suddenly Bokuto screeched, pulling his hands away as his fingertips started to extend, morphing the ends into twigs which sprung out with green buds, bursting into leaves.

Kuroo immediately began to cackle as the boy continued to scream and writhe from down on the floor, hitting his hands against shelves as the twigs grew more and more, looking like he had a whomping willow for each of his arms.

The employee, who had now chosen to intervene, crossed over to where they were, picking up the bottle with wisely gloved hands.

“Huh, shit, its irreversible” the employee said, carrying the bottle over to the trash.

Bokuto had now started exhaling calmly as the trees stopped growing. The potion had turned his skin from forearms to fingers into wood and then from there, a ruler worth of tree had grown off as an extension. He swung around to face them, nearly toppling over the nearest shelf. The bottles rattled precariously. Kuroo and the employee abruptly leant backwards as they were nearly hit with flying leaves.

“Hey, Kuroo, suck my wood off” Bokuto threw his head back and laughed.

Kuroo and the employee, Ennoshita, Kuroo read on his tag, gave each other a look.  
“Irreversible? When does it wear off” Kuroo asked.

“You can find someone exceedingly good in transfiguration to turn your hands back, otherwise, 5 hours” Ennoshita shrugged. 

Good at transfiguration? Kuroo found his mind darting to Tsukishima, his large royal red armchair, velvet and smooth. 

“Honestly it's probably the most pathetic prank in this shop, don't bother paying for it”. Then he walked off, leaving the raven haired to deal with his friend.

“Come on Bo, let's get you out of here before you destroy half the store” Kuroo snorted, hauling the boy up off the ground with a grunt.

“Imagine spiking a volleyball with these babies” Bokuto waggled his eyebrows. The twigs shimmied and the leaves shook. Kuroo imagines he was trying to wiggle his fingers.

“You’d pop it” Kuroo pointed out, shoving down Bokuto's arm when he tried to bring it to scratch his face.

“Will you do the transfiguration for me, bro?” Bokuto asked as they made their way out the door.

“Do you want me to?” Kuroo asked.

The two of them walked down the roads, down towards the three broomsticks. Witches and wizards and other students alike brushed past them on a busy weekend like this.

Bokuto hummed in thought.  
“Not really, not after you turned me into a quill last week”.

“Okay, but imagine this” Kuroo said, announcing. “I turn you into a quill and you get used by Akaashi” Kuroo grinned.

Bokuto stopped in his tracks, brought a twig finger to his chin and looked to the sky with consideration.  
“Oh,” he said, breaking away with a smile. His eyes shot to Kuroo, shiny and lambent. “Oh I would like that a lot” he confirms.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

The warmth of the three broomsticks was something Kuroo could never conceive. It was always the perfect temperature as if suited individually to anyone who walked in there, and he felt that now as Bokuto and him pushed their way into the pub. In the last few years the shop had catered to rebuilding a more homely warm environment for the consistent flow of Hogwarts students. The once wooden rickety walls were replaced with brown creamy wallpaper and served more as a large muggle cafe, whilst not changing so much that its original homely vibe and appearance had taken a dive for the worse.

Kuroo immediately spotted Kenma and Akaashi deep in conversation towards the outer edge of the pub, cherry syrup and soda over ice drinks in their hands.

“Tuck your elbows in, Bokuto” Kuroo commanded as they weaved their way to the table. “I don't want to be paying for anyone elses drinks because some poor person got a twig to the eye”.

“Yea, yea” Bokuto moaned, taking his advice and tucking his arms in front of his chest.

When they reached their destination, Akaashis eyebrows nearly shot into his hairline, lips parting in mild confusion. 

“Akaashi!” Bokuto wailed, scooting in next to the younger boy, hands waving.

“Dear lord help us” Kenma muttered as they all flinched. 

“Akaashi, I know you're transfiguration skills are hot shit, so please do as a favor” Kuroo chuckled, sliding into a chair.

Akaashi only turned to scowl at him.  
“You couldn't do it sooner?”.

“The heart wants what the heart wants? And Bokuto wants you to do it” Kuroo shrugs.

He leans over to steal some of Kenmas drink, lips finding purchase on the straw. He gets a whack on the back of his noggin, bubbles spilling out over the top of the glass as Kuroo winces. Akaashi sighs and takes Bokuto's forearm, bringing out his wand to tap at the wood. The warmth of the building seeps into Kuroos body and numbs him into a well needed doze.

“You must really love me to be doing this, aye Akaashi”.

“Please stay still, Bokuto”.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

The moon was bright, coruscating across their skin as the group made their way back up to the castle. The sun had only just dipped behind the hills, casting the world in liquid white light and quiet cricket chirping as Kuroo and Bokuto shoved each other, laughing. Kenma and Akaashi walked behind them, threatening to push them off the steep stone staircase if they didn't get a move on.

They had spent inherently the whole day in town, and it had been more than nice. Though they perhaps lingered a little too long in Madam Puddifoots as Kuroo observed Kenma buy more tea than he had ever seen before.

“You know there's always tea in the dining hall, Kenma”.

“Do they serve tea at 2am? I don't think so” Kenma had said.

Once reaching merlins gate, they started heading for the castle, but something had caught Kuroos eye. Off to the left and beyond the green houses, he could make out a figure standing in the gazebo. Blonde hair and thick glasses. It couldn't be? Could it.

“Kuroo?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo realized he had stopped in place.

“You guys go on without me”.

Akaashi and Kenma broke away to head to the Slytherin chambers. Bokuto anticipatorily jumped at walking along with Akaashi, leaving Kuroo to wander over to the gazebo. The game plan had been to, as attempted and failed beforehand, slink off to bed and never wake till deep in sunday afternoon. He inhaled deeply, huffing out a lang exhale and then yawned, eyes pinching and stinging, hurrying his footsteps along. But he could spot Tsukishima from a mile away, and it wasn't like Kuroo was gonna leave him there.

As he approached, his vision became clearer. Tsukishima was standing towards the back of the gazebo, arms laid underneath him as he buried his head, hidden away between them. The moon shone bright on his golden hair, transforming it shiny, white and mystical. From the way his chest was rising and falling rhythmically, Kuroo could very well assume he was sleeping, but he hadn't known anyone to fall asleep standing without falling over soon after.

Cautiously he approached, but when he placed his foot to the first step, it gave a resounding creak from underneath his shoe and he winced. Tsukishima, who had very much not been sleeping, shot his head up, swiftly hitting it on the column next to him. 

“Ah, shit” Tsukishima muttered. He grabbed the side of his head and rubbed it soothingly. 

“Whoops”. Kuroo felt a little bit guilty for that.

“What, not going to laugh at that?” Tsukishima sneered, voice snarky.

Kuroo smiled and shook his head, making his way up the steps.  
“I'm not a monster” he huffed.

“I would have laughed if it were you” Tsukishima dropped his arms to his side, turning to look out over the gazebos edge again. He tucked his arms on the railing and sighed.

“Well, im a kind person, ya know” Kuroo said, matter of factly. He positioned himself next to the blonde, also propping his arms up to look over the edge. It was quite a view, seeing the down slope of the large valley, the sky cloudless and dark. 

“You? kind?”.

“I'm always this kind” Kuroo nudged the blondes side with his elbow.

“I suppose” Tsukishima said dryly. “What are you doing here anyway? Do I have myself a stalker”.

“Well if you had been looking up, you would have seen me ascending the stairs, coming back from hogsmeade. No stalking involved” Kuroo smiled.

Their exchange of words were laced with softness, as if they had to keep their voices low amidst the quiet night.

“Hmm” is all the blonde responded with.

“Why, what are you doing here? Out of bed at this ungodly hour” Kuroo teased.

“Its 8:00” Tsukiahima snorted.

“Oh so the library was closing, and you decided to take a midnight stroll”.

“Again, its 8:00” Tsukishima pointed out.

“Does this have anything to do with your bad day” Kuroo asked, turning to look at the blonde.

Tsukishima's face was solemn. His eyes looked tired, his neutral expression pulled down with the heavy weight of a frown, even though Kuroo could see him fiercely try not to show it. It was an expression that looked as if so much stress has built up behind his walls, that he couldn't contain it, his shoulders slumped but also holding stiffness at the same time. It made Kuroos heart ache at the sight.

“See, sounds stalkerish to me” Tsukishima tried to give off a faint smile, bantering lackluster of his normal teasing tone.

“More like I actually have a decent memory” Kuroo indicated.

“I'm really not in the mood” Tsukishimas frown grew deeper, etching lines deep in his forehead. 

Kuroos eyes rolled around in his head, thinking. What? what could make him better...There was nothing he could really do...unless? Yea perhaps that. That always made Kuroo feel a bit better.

“I have the perfect thing for you” Kuroo pulled away from the railing, grabbing the blondes elbow with a grunt of protest as Tsukishima was dragged down the gazebos steps and up towards the castle.

“Where the heck are you taking me. Am I about to be the victim of a village witch burning” Tsukishima huffed as Kuroo dropped the grip on his sleeve. He picked up his pace as they entered the castle walls.

“No not that” Kuroo rolled his eyes.

“Am I a sacrifice to a Gryffindor ritual? Kill the Slytherin and the weather for the next quidditch game will be that of perfection?”.

“Wow you're so negative. I told you I'm nice okay. So just let me be nice” Kuroo huffed. He began to climb a staircase, Tsukishima testifying against the potent exercise forced upon him as they made their way up to the 5th floor.

“Walah” Kuroo grinned, stopping before a door and stepping aside for Tsuki to see. The blonde dragged himself from behind Kuroo, huffing slightly.

“You took me to see a door”.

“Agh, come on Mr sarcasm” Kuroo opened the door, leaving the blonde to make his way in after him.

In the room stood large carved columns, high colourful stained windows, the moon shining through to cast soft shadows across the walls. In the large layout of the room a massive bath had water already slowly rising upon them entering the room. Kuroo leant over to flip a switch and warm light eased its way into the room, flaming against the walls and giving attention to the gold statue like fountain placed slightly to the left but still in the bath.

Beside Kuroo, Tsukishima gazed along the intricate patterns of the stone and the high ceilings on the roof before his eyes landed on the bath and his face paled.

“You truly are going to kill me. I'm going to be drowned” Tsukishima whispered loudly.

Kuroos face cracked out into a large grin and he chuckled.

“As a quidditch captain, I have access to the prefects bathroom, and trust me, it's really come in handy sometimes” Kuroo nodded to himself.

“Ew, I don't think I want to know” Tsukishima faked a grimace.

“Oi” Kuroo pushed him slightly.

Tsukishima pretended to topple a few steps to the side.  
“A murder attempt” he gasped, looking between Kuroo and the water, smile high on his face.

Kuroo felt a wave of euphoria at the blondes face, so much different from the previous wallowing frown down in the gazebo. The boy finally looked at ease, walls knocked down to reveal something softer and...more vulnerable.

“Well” Kuroo announced loudly, placing his hands on his hips. “No need to thank me or anything. I’ll leave you to it” he turned on his heel.

“What, not going to join me?” Tsukishima smirked, raising his eyebrows. He sat, perched on the edge of the bath to lean down to pull off his boots.

Kuroo slowly swiveled back around to look at him. And oh, nope, nope, nope, he was getting undressed already. Dear god spare him and let him get out of this room alive. Kuroo could immediately feel the blush crawl up his neck and into his cheeks. He half habitly brought his hand up to scratch the back of his neck.

“You just gave me the chance to take down a Slytherin. Aren't you scared” Kuroo managed to sputter out with a forced grin. Really, he didn't have a strong enough will for this.

“Oh, please, I'd like to see you put up a fight” the blonde snorted, popping off his second boot, placing them to the side. 

And suddenly a wave of confidence pushed over Kuroo, forcing him the few steps he needed to take to stand in front of the blonde. He leant down and placed an arm on either sides of Tsukishima's warm thighs, caging him in. His hands gripped the edge of the stone bath. The blonde immediately leant back as Kuroos face came level with his, smirking a devils smile.

“Hmm, maybe i’ll take the invitation then” Kuroo teased, voice silky and low.

What came next, he hadn’t expected in the slightest. Tsukishima ended up slipping, giving a sharply inhaled gasp. He plummeted backwards towards the bubbly water, but not before getting a tight grip in the front of Kuroos very own shirt. Kuroo let out a yelp as he was tugged forward.

Together they fell into the bath, waves of liquid and bubbles erupting into the air, waves crashing back to envelop them in warm water. The water swept him down, he couldn't breathe and it hurt, it burnt strong in his lungs. He couldn't see anything around him. He hated water, he hated rivers and oceans and lakes and the thought of water crashing over his head, pulling him down into the cold dark abyss.

Kuroo rapidly pushed himself, gasping and spluttering. He pulled his hands to his chest, heart beating erratically, standing so the water only fell to his hips. Tsukishima's blonde head popped up, hair matted to his forehead, glasses askew. He also breathed heavily, not foreseeing to take a breath before falling in.

Kuroo reached his arm forward for Tsukishima to take his hand, pulling him up so he was also standing. The blonde adjusted his glasses, wiping the lenses of droplets before peering up at the raven haired. Immediately he broke off into a large grin, loud laughter echoing against the walls of the large bathroom. He clutched his stomach and pointed at Kuroos head.

Kuroo looked up, trying to see what was so funny, when he realized it was because of his hair. His usual bed head was sopping wet, hair flattened, but flicking out in the ends. Some of it obstructed his view out one eye. Kuroo pouted, looking at the still laughing blonde.

“Wow, really” Kuroo huffed. He crossed his arms. “Who’s tryna kill who now” Kuroo mocked as the blonde continue to giggle.

And as Tsukishima's bouncy warm laugh sounded all around him, Kuroo eyes widened fraction by fraction as he noticed that the billowy long sleeved shirt the blonde wore...wasn't white anymore...but instead see through. The fabric clung to Tsukishima's body, wet and dripping. His stomach was flat but toned, his arms which he thought were once thin and weak, looked back at him with slight muscles. The blondes collar bones drew in his gaze. They were sharp and prominent as well as hip bones cut and sloping, delving into a V which lead into his pants and oh…they were standing so close. 

So close that if Kuroo were to take a step forward ...slot his lips against Tsukishimas. He would feel as the laughter stopped, a hitch of a breath and Tsukishima would press back, warm and soft. Arms would wrap around him, palms flat on his back, nails digging in to leave crescent moon shaped imprints.

A crest of heat rolled over him, a hot sharp bite striking his abdomen. Oh fuck. Why did he have to get turned on now.

Kuroo felt all the blood drain from his body. More like it was redirected. Redirected somewhere it really shouldn't be right now. Kuroo whipped around, trudging through the water with heavy limbs to climb over the edge of the stone bath. Tsukishima's laugh abruptly stopped as Kuroo nearly tripped trying to swing his legs over, scrambling to escape the warmth of the water. 

“Kuroo?” Tsukishima asked, following, albeit slower. 

Kuroo stood, wringing out the ends of his shirt, clasp tight. He swung his head around to look over his shoulder at Tsukishima, glaring while doing so. And all to soon he realized that he must look furious. The blondes face warped into surprise, a twinge of worry and confusion mixed in.

“Enjoy your night” Kuroo muttered, turning around and walking out the door, leaving a trail of dripping water in his wake.

As soon as Kuroo was on the other side of the door, he breathed in strongly, feeling the cold of the castles halls seep into his skin as he closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down.

He wasn't furious at the blonde, he was angry at himself. He really needed to get over Tsukishima. This would be too hard. It would hurt too much when the time came and he was rejected, heart stomped into the dirt by black heavy duty boots, blonde hair and a smirk. His breath caught his throat, he felt choked up, heart squeezing with pain.

With a sinking feeling in his chest, he marched off towards Gryffindor tower to indeed sleep his future days away. 

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

“He’s been asking about you”.

“Uhuh”.

“Actually no he's been asking f o r you”.

“Is that so”.

“Are you gonna go looking for him”.

“Why should I” Kuroo snarked.

Bokuto crossed his arms.  
“Because you're being rude, selfish and also hogging up the whole bed, move over!” Bokuto spat, shoving Kuroo to the left.

Both boys were in the Gryffindor sleeping quarters, lying on Bokuto's twin sized bed. It was afternoon and the orange and yellow merged over the sky, tinting the clouds that could be seen from the windows of the tower. It had been 3 days since the bath incident. 

Kuroo sighed heavily, placing his hands over his stomach.

“Man, I just know I screwed up”.

“Nuh uh” Bokuto shook his head.

“Yea. I know that he knows that I know I like him”.

“What?”.

“Nevermind”.

...

Bokuto pouted, propping himself up on an elbow to look at Kuroo.  
“He's asking for you, so that must mean he cares enough to want to see you?”.

“Hes asking for me so he can kindly tell me to fuck off and stop fantasizing about our wedding” Kuroo corrected, eyes darting to the boys face.

“Ooo? Best man?” Bokuto asked enthusiastically, pointing at himself.

“Best man for sure” Kuroo nodded, smiling.

“Can I bring Akaashi?”.

“Only if he comes in a white dress to show up the bride”.

“I don't think he'd like that” Bokuto fell back onto the bed. “The dress thing” he adds.

“Yea” Kuroo hummed, fingers tapping against his stomach. “Congrats on asking him out by the way. I heard you gave him food poisoning with the chocolates you made”.

“It was supposed to be an everything chocolate. Ya know, like an everything bagel” Bokuto pouted.

There was a pause in the conversation, the silence lapping up time like a steadily ticking watch.

“What if I~” Bokuto dragged out the word. “Relayed a message from you to him?”.

Kuroo clicked his tongue.  
“Honestly that would just piss him off more”.

“Not to mention its gonna be curfew soon and im not dragging my ass around the castle to go find your love interest” Bokuto pointed out.

“I mean you can always find him in the slytherins place” Kuroo shrugged.

“How would I get in? It's in the dungeon right?” Bokuto turned to him, questioning.

“I think the common room has a window, you can always fly?” Kuroo grinned a lopsided smile.

“Okay then i'll do that”.

“Don't do that”.

“Okay I won't do that” Bokuto hummed.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

Bokuto was doing it.

He was gonna go find Tsukishima and rescue their fragile relationship that Kuroo had been slowly ripping apart like a piece of thin cloth. 

Honestly he didn't see what the big deal was. If he saw Akaashi drenched in hot soapy bath water, he would for sure pop not only one boner, but like ten. And it wasn't even like Tsukishima knew it had happened. He didn't even know Kuroo liked him at all.

But Bokuto had a feeling eating away at his heart upon seeing Kuroo always escaping to the common room in his spare time. “Studying for when the dragons arrive” Kuroo had said. More than a few times he would walk in on him using his wand on the common room fire, creating little dragons made of fiery orange flames that would circle in the air. Bokuto would run screaming as they puffed out hisses of steam and embers. 

But he knew it was a lie, Kuroo was more than prepared for the dragon task. The other two schools would arrive in 2 days, coming on friday, and once excitement shared between the two best friends, fizzled away as the raven haired hid away, trying to avoid Tsukishima and becoming sadder and distant by the minute. He was trying to get over him. But it didn't work like that.

Not to mention Bokuto felt sick of being used. The blonde would come up to him in the courtyard. Utter out a singular “Kuroo?” and Bokuto would shake his head. The blonde would then scowl, trudging off like it was his fault that Kuroo snuck around the castles trying to fend off the invendible.

And that's why Bokuto was doing it. He was doing it for his best friend, he thought as his wings flapped, white feathers to the breeze. Moonlight cascaded down, gleaming every which off his feathers. He soared and glided down from the tower, wind rushing past his ears, air rippling against his back. He couldn’t speculate exactly where the dungeons window may be, not having a clear lay out of the school in his mind. He snapped his beak a few times in annoyance as he graced upon the wrong windows, until finally, finally he spotted it.

Ungracefully, he touched down on the window sill, tucking away his large wings, preening them slightly to look presentable, as if anyone would care to notice, and then he peered into the window. 

The insides were dim, only lit by a single lamp light. Round wooden tables and black plush leather couches decorated the area, a single fireplace flickering with not red but green fire, the main attraction. A large forest green banner hang above on the wall, featuring a large serpent, wooden carvings adorned the frames of the room. 

In one of the couches sat Tsukishima and across from him on another black couch, another person, silver hair, twinkling eyes with a mole located underneath. Bokuto watched, narrowing his eyes as the elder student laughed, Tsukishimas shoulders tensing at whatever words he had said beforehand.

He tucked himself against the side of the frame, trying hard not to draw attention, which was a little hard for being such a large horned owl. But soon the silver haired stood, smiling, and then waved, walking off to what Bokuto assumed was the sleeping quarters.

Now was his chance.

He leant forward, pecking forcefully at the windows as to make a clinking noise. He watched as the blonde boy peeped over his shoulder, curious. Once spotting Bokuto, the blonde pushed himself up and drew close to the window. Bokuto hooted happily as Tsukishima halted before the window, staring down at him with quizzical eyes. And then- then Tsukishima was giving him the middle finger! Who does that to a bird!? 

The blonde began to turn around and Bokuto panicked, quickly judging the sturdiness and width of the window sill before he began to change into his original form. His arms swiftly lifted of the feathers, floating away into nothing, his face shrinking its beak and his legs hastily growing out. His robes engulfed him, protecting him from the cold and the last feather fell from his hair, crumbling into specs before vanishing.

“TSUKKI OPEN THIS WINDOW RIGHT NOW” Bokuto yelled, sitting on the wooden ledge. He banged heavily on the windows as if it were his own personal drum set.

The blonde had spun around, eyes wide and mouth agape as he hurried back. He hesitated before his fingers came to fiddle with the lock. The window sprung open and Bokuto clambered to get inside.

“Bokuto!?” Tsukishima hissed, voice low. His eyes darted around the room. Hopefully no one had heard the owls drumming on the clattering windows.

“Yes, me” Bokuto huffed, pulling himself up from the ground and straightening his robes. “Jeez, when you go up to the owlery do you just hold up the finger and spin around in circles for every bird to see”.

“Special treatment for you” Tsukishima shrugged, frowning. He made his way back to the couch, arms crossed in front of him.

“You're a real class act Tsukki” Bokuto grumbled, falling onto the couch opposite to him. The leather squeaked and sat uncomfortably under him, felt as if he could slide off at any given minute. He found himself comparing it to the Gryffindor common room with its plush velvet chairs that anyone could sink into. 

“Did you know it was me?” Bokuto asked, plunking his feet up on the coffee table before him.

Across from him Tsukishima sat, limbs languid as he eyes Bokuto warily.  
“No, I had no idea you were an unregistered animagus” he spoke calmly.

“Hey, how did you know I was unregistered” Bokuto gawped, eyes astonished.

“Because who would willingly let you have that ability” Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow.

“I feel like im being insulted here” Bokuto griped, mouth twisting with thought.

“It’s because you are” Tsukishima pointed out, tone degrading.

“Huh...I thought Kuroo would have told you we were animagusis...animaguzeez...animaguses...animagus plural” Bokuto stumbled over his words.

“I had a feeling about Kuroo, but no cold hard proof. Only that he gets along exceptionally well with every cat in this castle” Tsukishima smirked, unfolding his arms, form untensing.

“I also talk to the owls in the owlery” Bokuto hooted. “They tell me all the gossip about their owners letters” he laughed heartily.

Tsukishima scrunched his nose and narrowed his eyes.  
“If you don't keep it down, ill kick you out of here myself”.

Bokutos mouth immediately snapped shut.

“So what are you doing here. Did Kuroo send you?” Tsukishima asked, leaning forward.

And although his expression was neutral, Bokuto easily heard the lilt in his voice that came with the word ‘Kuroo’.

“God no, in fact he told me just right before this not to come” Bokuto shook his head, not noticing the way Tsukishima wilted, slumping back against the leather.

“I don't get it” Tsukishima muttered. He lifted his hands and rubbed at his eyes with his palms. “What did I do wrong?” he asks, exasperated.

Bokuto frowns, kicking his feet back down to the floor. “It's not a you thing, it's a him thing. He’s…” Bokuto sucks on the inside of his cheek. Should he?

”He’s having real trouble getting over the fact he likes you...” Bokuto places his words carefully. He looks up, hopeful to catch a reaction from the blonde, but all Tsukishima does is sigh.

“Yeah well i'm having a hard time getting over him too”. Tsukishima's gaze wandered to the side as Bokuto broke out into hysterics, making more than questionable noises.

“You like Kuroo!” Bokuto blurted out, accusingly. “B-but he likes you too and?”.

Tsukishima eyes slithered back to look at the boy, face grim.  
“It's not like he's good at hiding it very well…”.

Bokuto squawked, standing on his feet and pointing at him.  
“You have to tell him”.

Tsukishima reared back with surprise.  
“Uhm, no?”.

“Agh” Bokuto grouched. “But if you confess to him then you can live happily ever after. Like me and Akaashi!” he grinned.

“How is Akaashi?” Tsukishima asks.

Bokuto falls back onto the couch with a thwump.  
“Still in the infirmary” he sighs, picking at the cuticles of his nails.

“I just” Tsukishima huffs out yet another heavy exhale. “I want us to be in a good place when it happens. I want to get to know him thoroughly”.

“Eh?” Bokuto scrunches his face. “Knowing someone can take years”.

“Hn” Tsukishima grunts.

“Tsukki” Bokuto begins.

“Stop calling me that, there's only one person ill regretfully let call me that” Tsukishima snorts.

“Okay well, Kuroo isn't gonna be free for very long. He's gonna be helping out with the dragons at the tournament and if he's lucky, maybe he’ll even pick up an early apprenticeship”.

Tsukishimas face pales.  
“Dragons? An apprenticeship? Will he finish his 7th year?”.

Bokuto shrugs.  
“Dunno, but you know that he’s a 7th year anyway. Even if you got together, he’d only leave”.

“I have very much taken that into consideration” snaps Tsukishima. The blonde catches himself with his rudeness, face growing even more bleak. Bokuto looks at him sympathetically.

“...doesn't mean you can't be happy until then, or even after that”.

“I don't want to hurt either of us” Tsukishima mutters. “I know what im like, cold, snarky, distant. A real asshole, according to everyone”.

Bokuto brought a hand up to scratch his head, looking around. He really didn't know what to when other people doubted themselves. He was always the one being pulled back up.

“You” he inhales. “You aren't like that. I don't even know you too well, but from what ive gathered, you're only slightly cold because you're defensive. You don't want to let your guard down, and there's not anything wrong with that”.

“Hm” Tsukishima huffs with a smile. 

“Why do I think this is a conversation you should be having with Kuroo and not me” Bokuto grins.

“Sorry for thinking you were so dumb”.

“You thought I was dumb” Bokuto gawks.

Tsukishima pulls in his bottom lip, worrying it with his teeth.  
“So how do I get Kuroo talk to me”.

“Hey, did you just ignore me!?” Bokuto folded his arms, the very epitome of pouting.

“He's always avoiding me and trying to get to him through you hasn't been working”.

“Tsukki!” Bokuto whines, puffing his cheeks out.

“Don't call me that” Tsukishima says, irked.

“Tsukki Tsukki Tsukki Tsukki Tsukki” Bokuto begins to chant, face mocking.

“Shut up, shut up” Tsukishima hushes him.

“Wait TSUKKI!” Bokuto suddenly perks up. “The common room!”.

“Yes that is where were sitting right now. Did you not notice” he clicks his tongue.

“No, no! I'll bring you into the Gryffindor common room. It's not imposbbile, our security is just a password and people bring their friends all the time” Bokuto speaks, gleefully. “Although, not a lot of Slytherins” he mumbled.

“Makes sense” Tsukishima shrugs.

“I've been meaning to ask, do you have any friends Tsukishima?” Bokuto asks, leaning back to lie on the couch.

“Yes I have friends!” Tsukishima sneers. “Just...I lost a lot when I started talking to Kuroo” he mumbled, now fiddling with his fingers.

“Aw man, im sorry” Bokuto says, replacing the smile on his face with a stern frown.

“Its fine, I wouldn't want to hang out with people who think those kinds of things anyway” Tsukishima sighs.

“What kind of things?”. Bokuto tilts his head.

“That any house is”. The blonde twirls his wrist in the air “Below Slytherin” he finishes.

“Huh” Bokuto says. “Well I can tell you right now, Kuroo is worth it” he smiles, giving a firm nod.

“Yea. He is” Tsukishima smiles back

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

Kuroo was in the midst of reading a book. It was a good book. But as his eyes trailed along the words, he found himself having to drag himself back to restart the sentence, not taking in the information at all. 

Swedish Short-Snout dragons have an average size of 22ft. They are a small and rarely-seen silver-blue dragon. They are renowned for both their agility and for having the strongest flames of any dragon, burning hot enough to produce blue fire.

Kuroos eyebrows furrowed, tracing the lines of the azure blue hued dragon picture. He rubbed his fingers together, trying not to think about the way the light caught Tsukishima's own blue eyes.

A knock sounded at the door and he snapped his gaze up to the opening, a blonde head appearing before him. Dubiously, Kuroo looked at him, disbelief striking hard. Why was he here? And Tsukishima was looking back. He swallowed his surprise at the muted response and paid his gratitude to the skies that nobody else was in the room, or else the boy might be banished from the tower.

“Y-” Kuroo started.

Tsukishima's eyes widened in astonishment, as if he weren't the one to randomly walk.

His hands felt clamming. The overwhelming fondness, the surge of adoration, it was all too much as the blonde stepped into the room, easing the door behind him.

“You” he tried again, but his voice faltered, his mouth caught around the words. What did he want to even say. 

“I think what you're trying to stay is that i'm a hypocrite for calling you a stalker whilst I show up to your room in the middle of the night”. Tsukishima took a few steps towards his bed, tentative with his movements

“I think I can accept it” Kuroo spoke, weakly.

Tsukishima dropped down on the side of his bed, hands reaching forward to play with the drapes, red fabric sifting between his long fingers.  
“Or maybe” the blonde said, not looking to him at all. “You were going to say, i'm so sorry for avoiding you Tsukishima” he sung, imitating the raven haired boys voice. Then his gaze was flickering to Kuroo, eyes dead serious. “I'll n e v e r do it again”.

Kuroo sighed, heaving the large book out of his lap and placing it on the floor. “Sorry” he muttered.

Tsukishima also sighed, leaning his back on one of the four columns holding the bed up.  
“I’ll forgive you” Tsukishima stated. “If you tell me why”.

“Tsukki, look im sorry” Kuroo pulled his knees up to his chest. “I wasn't angry at you or anything, I just needed to stay away for a while,” he muttered, not dragging his eyes away from the bed covers for even a split second.

“Stay away?” the blonde repeated, sounding puzzled.

“I was afraid I liked you too much”. Kuroos eyes instantly darted up to Tsukishimas face and then back down to the bed. “Y-you know, i’d really like us to be good friends and all”.

“Oh” is what Tsukishima said.

“I came on to fast. I was scared I might chase you away”. Kuroo raised his head and forced a smile. “Cause I do! I really do want to be your friend, and it seemed like you might not be as keen” he looked away again, smile falling away. Lying felt bad.

“Im keen” the blonde replied.

“You are?” Kuroo asked, bewildered.

“Yea” the blonde shrugged, shoulders looking heavier than usual.

“Even if I hide away for days, never showing my face apart from to shove a bowl of cheerios down my throat every morning in the great hall?”.

“Now that's what I don't like”. The blonde glared. “Don't avoid me anymore, I like you just as much as you like me”. His eyes slid away, finding purchase on the nearest wall. “Trust me” he half whispered, half muttered.

Kuroo stared at the blonde. It couldn't be that he liked him back could it? No. Tsukishima was a blunt outright person. If he had something to say, he’d say it, not that he would have anything to say. A crush would be so trivial to the blonde, something as meaningless as brushing your teeth in the morning. Kuroo needed to learn how to quash these hopeful feelings. 

“I'm glad” Kuroo smiled softly. It was okay, they could be friends. Kuroo could deal with friends.

There was a moment of calm walm silence, broken as Tsukishima cleared his throat. “So an animagus, huh?” he asked, a teasing tone returning to his voice once more. 

“Bokuto flew to get you, didn't he” Kuroo deadpanned, voice anamused.

“I'm surprised he even underwent the difficult process. Don't you have to hold a mandrake leaf under your tongue for a month” Tsukishimas eyebrows quirked up in question.

“Ahh” Kuroo chuckled. “Bokuto ended up swallowing his after a week and ended up forcing me to spit mine out so we could restart the process together”.

“What about needing to drink the potion in an ongoing lightning storm?”.

Kuroo shrugged easily. “We planned ahead and started a while before winter. Winter has more storms. How do you know all this anyway?”.

“Maybe you're friend Pascal told me” Tsukishima smirked.

“Ah?” Kuroo tapped his bottom lip. “So you've already discovered my second form?” he asked.

Tsukishima snorted like the fact was obvious.  
“Yea, a cat” he chortled.

“Mm, yep a cat” Kuroo nodded, a sly grin on his face. “Would you like to see it?”.

But he didn't give any thought to hearing the blonde out as he abruptly stood from the bed.  
Tsukishima eyes followed him, eyes gleaming with curiosity and interest.

And then he was transforming, leaping down to four legs as black thick fur covered his body, two ears shrouding the top of his head, large whiskers spindling down from his face, until he stood, completely a new form.

His eyes darted up to take in Tsukishimas widened gaping mouth. 

“I thought you were something like a bloody house cat” Tsukishima spoke with shock. “Not” he waved his hands at Kuroo.”This!”.

Kuroo sat down on his hind legs. Of course he wasn't any normal cat. He was a caracal, a long-legged wild cat, black tufted ears and a rare black coat. He stood as large as a dog, paws wide and accommodating to his form, black short tail swishing through the air.

“...can I?” Tsukishima asked, raising his hand hesitantly.

Kuroo blinked, as if saying please, and obligingly leaned forward, pushing his head up and under the blondes waiting hand.

And they sat there, Tsukishima bringing his hand up to stroke the fur rhythmically down his head. His touch was light, almost delicate, and Kuroo shifted upwards more so the blonde was pressing more solidly, fingertips gliding down over his fur, sending warm vibrations down his spine. The air ran with static, room silent but peaceful and soothing. Tsukishima touched him. Kuroo closed his eyes and shivered. And he knew, just knew that there was no way he could just manage to be friends with him.

Tsukishima jumped back as Kuroo transformed from the floor, revealing himself, legs crossed underneath him. With still closed eyes, Kuroo reached forward the short distance and pulled Tsukishima's hand back to his hair. The blonde continued to stoke, fingers running through his raven locks.

“Hey Tsukki” Kuroo asked, voice low and appeasing.

Tsukishima hummed in response.

“After the other schools arrive, after the dragon task, after...everything”. He exhaled, eyes drifting open to look up at Tsukishima. The blonde stopped his petting, pulling his hand away.

“After everything, I have something I wanna tell you, alright” Kuroo said, voice laced with seriousness.

The blonde blinked a few times before also exhaling.  
“Okay, Kuroo...I'll wait”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is the first chapter uwu. Pretty sure it'll only be 4 chapters long. 5 at most.  
> Im kind of just going with the flow. I still have to write the whole triwizard tournament first round and then the yule ball ;) oh yea. So anyways, hang tight and i'll get around to it (says me, talking to myself in the end notes)


	2. Chapter 2 - The Yule Ball Can Eat my Ass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my last chapter was 14,000 words and I was like hot damn I guess I gotta match that. So this chapter is 13,000 and I died for it :') but only cause I like writing this fic so much for no reason.
> 
> Anyways, sorry not much happens in this chapter. Next chapter will have it all.

"Eternal glory! That's what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament, but to do this, that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks."

...

Kuroo was late to the assembly in the great hall and it was all because of Bokuto. Bokuto who was also running behind him, kicking at his shins and laughing. 

“BOKUTO, I'LL TURN YOUR DICK INTO A CAROLINA REAPER PEPPER” Kuroo shrieked, rounding a sharp corner. His side immediately took upon a large jabbing pain. A stupid stitch.

“Sounds spicy” Bokuto jokes, coming to a stop next to a wheezing Kuroo, hands on his knees.

“Sounds painful for Akaashi” Kuroo said between pants.

“Im sorry man, I didn't mean to turn into an owl in front of all those people” Bokuto whined. “I just saw that stuck frisbee and I got excited”.

Kuroo frowned, pushing himself up, breath winding now.  
“I dont even know if it was okay for me to use obliviate, but your stupid ass-”.

“I get it, I get it” Bokuto groaned, throwing his hands into his hair and pulling. Kuroo snorted and blew the hair out of his face.

Suddenly there was a large whipping noise sounding from the skies, and Kuroo looked up from where they were standing in the courtyard.

The sky was late evening, a borderless flow of blues merging with a sultry orange. It almost looked auroral. A low level of fluffy clouds perched in the seemingless vastness, broken by a carriage. It was powderblue, trimmed with golden linings and a red roof. It was carried by six elegant pegasuses, their wings pinching inwards as they dipped in the sky, carrying the carriage which only rocked lightly with the descending movement.

Kuroos eyes followed with wonder as it swept across the sky, obstructed as it sunk behind the heavy walls of the castle. The sky's hue darkens, the sun tremmors and with a magnificent display, it falls behind the horizon and casts everything into darkness, overrulen by the moon.

He finally managed to drag his eyes down and back to Bokuto, who was also watching with awe. The blinding light from the moon covered them in hazy pale blues, roaming the outlines of their skin. The first school had just arrived. 

The two boys eyes met, widened with anticipation. Kuroo gave a firm nod and they both regained their hurried pace as they made their way to the hall. Behind them the moon shone with dubiety.

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The great hall was a fuss with conversation, loud and uninterpretable as the two stepped through the large doors. Thank god nothing had started yet.

Bokuto pushed past him and made his way to their table, yelling with furore at the other rowdy Gryffindors who welcomed him with uncontained excitement.

Kuroo however, was scanning the Slytherins table. Scouring until finally he found the blonde head of Tsukishima. Tsukishima who was already looking at him! His expression was neutral, if not looking inherently tired.

Kuroo grinned, and made a step towards his direction, when Tsukishima frowned and gave a short, curt shake of his head, mouthing a “no”. 

Kuroo frowned and twisted his mouth as he stopped, propping his hands on his hips.  
“You better not fucking dare Kuroo” Kuroo mouthed, sneering and mocking as if he were Tsukishima.

Tsukishima only cocked an eyebrow, smile twitching at the edge of his lips as he turned to ignore the raven head and mingle with his own Slytherin friends.

Kuroos grin grew wider at the sought after reaction and he turned on his heel, making his way to the table lines with neat red tablecloths and the crimson robes of his fellow house friends.

“Now we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement”.

The chatter around them abruptly died down as the headmaster took his place behind the podium. Bokuto elbows him in the ribs with thrill and excitement in his eyes and Kuroo leans over in discomposure, growling out an insult as his hands clutch his side. 

“So Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event. The Triwizard tournament.  
Now for those of you who do not know, the Triwizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests”.

The hall starts to buzz again, but is squashed with a loud clearing of the headmasters throat.

“From each school a single contestant is selected to compete. Now let me be clear, if chosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint hearted, but more of that later. For now please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of magic and their headmistress Madam Maxime”.

Gasps jab at the prescience in the air and surround Kuroo as he and others turn to watch the double doors of the hall fly open on their hinges. In walks orderly lines of beauxbatons girls, a few boys. They step neatly down the open floor of the hall. The music encompassing them is light and breezy. Every few steps or so, they bend and let out butterflies from their palms, voice breathy as their blue uniforms shimmy and float around them, a baby blue wrapping up their elegant impression.

“Bottom, bottom, oh definitely a bottom”. Hanamaki and Mastukawa sit to his right, pointing at every beauxbaton male that passes near them.

“Guys” Kuroo rolls his eyes at them, although it was all in good fun.

“Not my fault all these cute boys are all bottoms” Matsukawa wiggles his eyebrows as Hanamaki giggles beside him.

“Oh, OH! POWER BOTTOM FOR SURE” Hanamaki whoops, pointing at one paticular boy with a voice perhaps a little louder than needed.

The boy turns around with wide eyes at the comment. His blonde undercut and strong features makes him feel like he belongs anywhere else but in dark grey pants with matching vest, blue sleeves beneath as well as a blue short cape lying over the top of his broad shoulders. But he seems to pull it off rather well. The boy winks, sticking his tongue out to reveal a piercing, and then hurries back to not fall behind is formation.

“My heart” Hanamaki breathes and he clutches Matsukawas robes tightly, and his eyes still watch the boy make his way down the hall. 

Kuroo face palms with an embarrassed smile and Bokuto laughs heartily.

“Dude dibs” Matsukawa says quickly.

“Hell no! I saw him first” Hanamaki aruges.

Before a fight can start however, a teacher leans over their shoulders and shushes them harshly before strutting away.

“Whatever, I still have you” Matsukawa grins towards the pink haired boy next to him.

Hanamaki shows a matching smirk.  
“second pick, not bad, not bad”.

Hanamaki and Mastukawa had been their teams beaters for quite a while. But after rigging the sound system in the last match with some rather vulgar songs. They had been banned for playing on the team the rest of the year and had to be quickly replaced by Tanaka and Noya.

The Gryffindor team had survived without them, but goddamn Kuroo had to admit they were a good power duo.

All the beauxbatons students settle at the raven claw table. They were looking around the Great hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads. The conversation starts to loom only to be shut down for the millionth time that night, as Kuroo tried to count it over in his head.

“And now our friends from the north, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and the high master Igor Karkaroff”.

Silhouettes passed the lights from outside the great hall, tall, broad and strong. As they drew nearer, taking their first steps into the room, Kuroo saw their bulk was really due to the fact they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. 

A series of older boys walk up the aisle brandishing bo staff, twirling them around and periodically stabbing them into the ground with a red fiery spark effect. 

“Oh thankgod, I thought the tops were never going to show themselves” Hanamaki muttered under his breath, bringing a round of snickers to the Gryffindor table.

The Durmstrang school was nearly the opposite of the Beauxbaton school, made mainly of males, a few girls interspersed there and here. They all stood high and proud, backs straight apart from the ones who lead the pack, performing stunts and blowing fire.

As they approached the front, one boy fell into a well practiced crouch and blew a large fume of fire. It twisted and pulled itself through the air in the form or a Dragon. It lit up the in the glossy reflections of Kuroos eyes as his mouth fell open and a thrill surged in his chest.

“Holy shit, Kuroo look, look!” Bokuto suddenly grabbed at his elbow.

Kuroo had the mind to snap back at him for the second time that night, when abruptly his eyes caught what Bokuto was so excited about.

Girls swooned and boys corrected their posture at the following Hogwarts tables as one Wakatoshi Ushijima strode past. Famous quidditch player and as blunt as the end of a butter knife, but with dashing looks that could challenge and kill Kuroo on that very spot. Following him was a spiky redhead Durmstrang, who seemed to be jeering at Ushijima with snickers.

“Wow, I didn't know they served beef at Durmstrang” Matsukawa joked.

And all of the newly arrived students settled in along the Slytherin table. They were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest. A couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed. 

Kuroo almost doubled over in laughter as Ushijima had picked a spot right next to Tsukishima, who looked very disgruntled and shuffled along the seat further away. 

He had to tease him about that later.

The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely thirty additional students there. Perhaps it was because their differently colored uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep blood red.

“Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said the head master. 

"Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete”.

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“You're not doing it” he seethed.

“I want to do it! So yes, I am” was the reply.

“I’m going to stop you” Akaashi snapped.

“If you jinx me, i’ll give it to Kuroo to put it in for me” Bokuto humphed, crossing his arms. Pinched between his fingers was a slip of parchment, a messy Bokuto Koutarou sprawled across it in large droopy letters.

Akaashi immediately whipped around to Kuroo who was following close behind. “You wouldn't” he growled. “Right?”.

Kuroo took a few steps back, hands waving in front of him.  
“Keep me out of this lovers spat”. He shook his head with concern.

They had been heading to the courtyard for their break between classes when Bokuto had triumphantly stated that he had to do something first. This resulted in a curious Akaashi and a wondering Kuroo as they followed him down the path to the great hall, when suddenly Akaashi spotted the ink splotched paper scrunched in Bokutos hand.

And now...well now it was a fight as Bokuto stomped forward, Akaashi snapping at his heels like a small Pomeranian dog. Kuroo fell behind a few steps, cautious incase Akaashi wasn't joking and actually did throw a few spells out and about.

“People die in this competition, the headmaster said it himself” Akaashi pointed out. His voice had returned lower, although it still held a grueling tone. 

“Hardly, Akaashi! hardly. Plus I already have a tip of what the first task is gonna be” Bokuto argued weakly.

“That should have you disqualified, just like Kuroo is for knowing about it” Akaashi spat bitterly.

“What, are you going to turn me in?” Bokutos head swiveled to the side as he stopped in his tracks. His eyebrows raised as to question his boyfriend.

They were only a hallway away from the great hall and where the goblet of fire stood. 

Akaashi seemed to hesitate, hands clenching and unclenching against the side of his green robes. His mouth was pinched in a straight line, slightly down turned, and his eyes blazed like emerald fire, wanting to be set free.

“I don't want you to get hurt” he mumbled.

“Bokuto gets hurt all the time” Kuroo interjected, but was quickly shut down with a glare from Akaashi.

“If im old enough to enter, then I don't need to be bossed around as if you’re my mother” Bokuto sung, wagging a finger in the air.

Akaashi looked like he wanted to bite off that finger.

“I'm just saying, you really look like you're competing for biggest idiot here Akaashi” Bokuto shrugged.

“As the defending champion, are you nervous?” Akaashi retorted.

“I don't need you to tell me what to do!!!” Bokuto spouted out.

And then there was silence. Kuroo grimaced. Akaashi stood frozen. Bokuto seemed to have realized what he said, and his face was falling, mouth gaping at the air.

“You don't need me” Akaashi stated, more than said.

“That's not what I said” Bokuto took a step forward, just as Akaashi took a step back.

“If you enter that competition, we’re over Bokuto”. Akaashis voice was laced with threat. Then he was turning on his heel and hastily storming off in the opposite direction.

Kuroo and Bokuto watched until his back was a dot in the distance, and then it disappeared around a corner.

Bokuto let out a large exhale, posture slumping as he fell into a dejected mood.

“Hey, not that i'm stopping you or anything, I know I can't” Kuroo said. 

Bokuto looked over at him, questioning.

“But you know what he said was right, people do die”. Kuroo delivered the sentence with a grim expression and worrying tone.

“But” Bokuto uttered out. “I wanna do something exciting. Everything feels so...routine, no matter how many times I try to make it not. There's nowhere to go, nothing to do... but study” he tacks on with a sigh.

“There's quidditch...although it finished early” Kuroo points out.

“Yea, but I count that as one of the small joys of life. I want something big, Kuroo”. His voice was almost a whisper. “Something worth looking forward to. And I've told Akaashi that before”.

“You don't think Akaashi is that thing to look forward to?” Kuroo asked, doubt filling his senses. How oblivious could his friend be.

“I...hey, maybe” Bokuto scrunched his eyebrows in thought.

“No, not maybe. I know how important he is to you. Do you? But god knows what Akaashis thinking if you've told him that you have nothing to look forward to anymore!” Kuroo hissed.

“I...I haven't said anything like that to him” Bokuto argued, voice falling flat as he battled with himself.

“No, but it sounds heavily implied” Kuroo sighs. “Dont go losing something you just got, man”.

Bokutos face is contorted with different expressions. Anger, confusion, sadness, a little impertinent.

“I’m...im still gonna do it,” he announced, standing straighter.

“That seems like a step in the wrong direction” Kuroo asked, perplexed. Had he not gotten through to him?

“No, don't worry, im not gonna do it in the way you think I am” Bokuto grinned, gaining his confidence back. It looked like a wilting flower in reverse.

“Bo, just tell me what-” Kuroo started.

“-Nope” Bokuto interrupted. “You’ll see”. And then he was running off, abielt it was not the direction of either the great hall or the way Akaashi had gone.

It left Kuroo standing there, peering down the hall and into the room where the goblet sat.  
Its blue flames fell dark across the walls and the face of the students sitting around there. It was almost calling to him, malevolent and brainwashing, telling him to step closer, watch as dark embers ate away at the ends of parchment until disappearing underneath the hot flame.

“Kuroo” a voice said.

Wow the goblet really was calling for him.

“Kuroo” the voice came again.

Suddenly he snapped to. He whirled around to find that it was Tsukkishima, a curious expression etched into his face.

“You thinking about throwing your name into that thing or what” he smirked, brushing past Kuroo to make his way into the great hall. He blinked a few times before hurrying to catch up. The azure flames cast faint blue across their skin, just like moonlight on a dark night as they stepped into the large room.

“And if I were?” Kuroo grinned, holding his hands behind his back as he walked side by side with the blonde.

“I would think of you as in idiot” Tsukishima shrugged, easy and fluid.

They both stopped on the outer ring of students, hushes and mumbling filling the room.

“What are you doing here anyway?” Kuroo asked.

“Only better thing to do right now is to watch the stupid be stupid” Tsukishima hummed.

“Stupidly brave more like it” Kuroo argued as a Durmstrang boy stepped forward and past the silver white line surrounding the goblet. He reached his arm out dropped his parchment with name on it. It missed the goblet entirely and flittered down to the floor.

“Nope, just stupid” Tsukishima smiled as the boy scrambled to grab at his paper and shove it in the fire, slightly embrassed.

“Not entering are you?” Kuroo teased.

Tsukshima huffed, turning to look at him with a laughable face.  
“Even if I were old enough, I don't think anyone would want to see a scrawny blonde boy as hogwarts triwizard champion”.

“Hmm” Kuroo nodded. “I agree, if you were the champion, I'd surely throw myself off a bridge from grief”.

“That is” Tsukishima frowned. “Largely out of context”.

“Your face is out of context” Kuroo replied with a happy smile.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, fidgeting, and standing up to see whether the headmaster was ready to announce the competitors yet.

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state and there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as the headmaster got to his feet. 

“Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision” he boomed from the podium. Behind him the goblet shone brightly, flames gathering and lowering in a pattern of its own impatience.

Kuroo looked over to the Slytherin table, hoping to share a glance with Tsukishima. But instead caught Akaashi glaring daggers into Bokuto, who sat, hiding his face as well as trying to look up towards the front of the hall.

Kuroo had guessed that Bokuto hadn't told Akaashi he didn't enter, but instead did something else. Something Kuroo was a little confused about when told by his friend.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped.

"The champion for Durmstrang," the headmaster read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Wakatoshi Ushijima”.

A storm of applause rocked the hall as Ushijima stood from the Slytherin table, making his way haughtily to the front of the hall.

“No surprise there” Bokuto shrugged from his side.

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was purely focused on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames. 

“The champion for Beauxbatons” the headmaster spoke, “is Kiyoko Shimizu!”.

Applause yet again swept the great hall, albeit a little less than when Ushijima was announced, but it steadily gained as the girl stood. More woman than a girl. 

The claps turned into wolf whistles and smacks to the back of the head as Kiyoko made her way between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff table. Her long silky black hair fell behind her, a mole underneath her mouth only enhancing her beauty.

Bokuto and Kuroo shared a look, which was then shared by Hanamaki and Matsukawa. Girls were...pretty.

And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more. Sparks showered out of it, the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip the headmaster pulled the third piece of parchment. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Kuroo could see Akaashis folded hands twitch upon the table as the curly haired boy looked between the goblet and Bokuto fervently. A worried expression forced its way through his facade, pulling at his frowning lips, eyebrows squeezed tight.

“The Hogwarts champion-”.

Kuroos gaze didn't pull away from the front of the hall, but his expression held empathy for Akaashi.

“Is Oikawa Tooru!”.

The uproar from the next table was too great. Every single Ravenclaw had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Oikawa made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the front of the hall.

Kuroo heaved a breath of relief, head swiveling to look at Bokuto, who had also risen off his seat and was shouting along with the Hogwarts students. When he fell back to his seat with a strong grin, Kuroo tapped his shoulder, trying to get his attention over all the noise.

“Aren't you frustrated that you weren't chosen” Kuroo asked, eyebrows drawn.

Agan out of the corner of his eye, he could see Akaashi visibly unclench his shoulders, face smoothing out as if all energy and will had been sucked from him with a single sigh of relief.

“No, no, didn't I explain it before, Kuroo!” Bokuto crooned. “I went and found someone else to join the competition and I told them what the first challenge was as a bribe” he hummed happily.

Kuroos lips parted in surprise, eyebrows shooting up.  
“Bokuto, you idiot!”. He delivered a swift karate chop to the back of his friends head, who gave an indignant yelp.

“What, what?” Bokuto asked, fingers clutching the locks on the back of his head.

“Anyone who knows that could be disqualified!” Kuroo hissed.

“But Oikawa is really really cool, he wouldn't tell anyone, and I know he's gonna do great!” Bokuto grinned, shaking his hand out, as if it were the thing injured.

“Yea, he's gonna do great cause he has outside help” Kuroo shook his head in disgrace. 

He had been told very firmly not to share his knowledge with anyone. But being Kuroo, he had immediately disobeyed. He spouted off to his friends that he would be the greatest dragon breeder of all time, as he held a glass of kool aid in the air, standing on the old oak table of the Gryffindor common room. Of course he had forgotten to take into consideration that Bokuto Koutarou was one of those friends.

“Akaashi better take your goddamn ass back, or else you’ll be on two murder lists” Kuroo sighed into his hands.

Indeed, the applause for Oikawa went on so long that it was some time before the headmaster could make himself heard again. Kuroo supposed that the damage had been done.

"Excellent!" the headmaster called happily as at last the tumult died down.  
"Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster”.

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“What in the what, a walk by the river?” Kuroo asked, bewildered as he walked beside Tsukishima down the slight incline of a grassy slope. 

The blonde only huffed a breath as he always did when slightly ticked off.  
“You don't have to come” he muttered out.

“Apart of your daily routine is walking alongside the river!?” Kuroo asked again, pacing a little quicker to get in front and turn around to face Tsukishima.

“You see it from the quidditch pitch all the time, and it's not like I walk the full thing” Tsukishima sighed.

“There's a difference between seeing it and being so close to the edge you could fall in an- and…” he trailed off.

“And drown?” Tsukishima peers to the side to look at Kuroos distraught face.

“Well i'm not saying you couldn't. But you can and it can not not happen, but it could and I wouldn't if I were you because you can, it can't happen though” Kuroo rambles, hands out in front of him.

“What's with you and water?” Tsukishima asks curiously. “You looked as if you had been petrified when we fell into the bath together, and now this” he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Kuroo stopped walking and slapped two hands over his red face. Tsukishima stopped a few steps ahead, confused.

“Why do you” he breathed. “Have to bring that uppppp” he drawled, swaying on the spot for the dramatics.

“Are you still angry at me for that? I know cats don't like-”.

“No, Tsukki, I know how perceptive you are. You know I hate water, and right now we’re going to water!” Kuroo wailed, raising his face from his hands.

Tsukishima blinked a few times, looking slightly guilty.

“Well” he looked off to the side. “Again, I said you don't have to come”.

“How else am I supposed to spend time with you” Kuroos voice became high pitch with accusation.

“Walk 20 meters from the river's edge and me at all times” Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow as he started to walk off again.

“That's a restraining order! You're giving me a restraining order!” Kuroo called after him.

“Yup” Tsukishima calls over his shoulder.

Kuroo looks side to side. He could stay and wait on the large grass bank, but that’d be boring. Extraordinary boring. He twisted his head around to look behind him and at the castle. He could go see what Akaashi and Bokuto were doing? Although...they were probably just having make up sex or something, since Akaashi basically flew into Bokutos arms after the championship announcment. Or maybe the curly haired boy was attempting to beat him up. He didn't know.

Kuroo could go see Kenma? But Kenma had suddenly been hanging out a lot with Hinata, and Kuroo wanted him to make new friends that wasn't him. Whenever Kuroo was around him and his other friends, he called Kuroo embarrassing. And yea he could see why, but still, rejection.

And Tsukishima. Agh well that was the person he wanted to hang out with. 

He watched the blondes back as he descended the last of the slope and started heading towards the river. It looked dark, thundering and vicious after last night's rainfall. If Tsukishima were to fall in, he wouldn't be able to call for help, maybe wouldn't be able to reach for his wand, maybe he thought he was a stronger swimmer than he thought he was.

“Okay, hey, hey” Kuroo ran after Tsukshima, waving him down. 

“Look, the dragon task is tomorrow, and they are coming in to the school today, you wanna go see them right, right?”.

“Not particularly. I’ll see them on the day of the task” Tsukishima frowned as Kuroo came to a stop next to him.

“But fire trumps water”.

“No it doesn't.''

“Okay but in this situation”.

“It still doesn't”.

“No one wants to watch a boring river, Tsukki”.

“I do”.

“Ughhhhh” Kuroo threw his head back with a groan.

“Kuroo” Tsukishima states with seriousness. Kuroos eyes fall back onto the blonde, with a dull expression. 

“It's okay to be afraid of water. But when I tell you this, and actually listen to me” Tsukishima holds up a hand when it looks like Kuroo is about to interrupt.

“I grew up around water, swimming in lakes, oceans, rivers. Plus its not like i'm actually going to take a chilly dip in autumn” Tsukishima rolls his eyes.

“I-” Kuroo starts.

“But today. Today I won't go down if that's what you want” Tsukishima tilted his head in firm  
question.

The tall grass stood tall, up to their thighs. Dew drops clung to the tips of a few pieces, bending with weight and some bursting and sinking into Kuroos robes as they stood in the middle of the small field. Kuroo shuffled on his feet, looking torn. It wasn't a big deal right, he could be selfish?

“I heard the defense against the dark arts teacher has a Golden Snidget, come on let’s go”.

And then Tsukishima's hand was on him. His eyes fell down to their hands. His fingers were long, slender and lightly encircled his wrist. Kuroos mouth suddenly dry as he was pulled alongside the blonde. Slowly, he edged his hand up, hesitant, but then Tsukishima's palm was pressed warmly against his own palm, fingers clasping together, and they were holding hands…

Kuroos eyes flickered up to Tsukishima face in front of him. It showed no reaction, no disgust, no resentment, apart from perhaps the small twitch of a smile.

Being this close, Kuroo could smell him, scents of vanilla and something fruity floating off of him. It was light, mellow, pleasant, and so very much Tsukishima.

“Did you know the Golden Snidget was a bird used in the beginnings of quidditch, which was soon replaced by the snitch?” Tsukishima asks, and Kuroo snaps out of his love struck haze.

“Of course I know that! I play quidditch! Why do you know that?” Kuroo balks.

Tsukishima only laughs breezily as they make their way through the tall grass and back up to the castle.

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Antipodean Opaleye: A species of dragon native to the valleys of New Zealand with pearly white scales and multicolored, pupiless eyes.

Chinese Fireball: A species of dragon native to China. Its appearance is red with a golden fringe of spikes around its face

Ukrainian Ironbelly: A species of dragon native to Ukraine, and the largest species of dragon ever recorded. Large, grey, long snout and sharp teeth. 

These were the dragons Kuroo had dealt with tonight. Although being beautiful, Kuroo admitted that they were all very antsy, nervous and erm...destructive. But any animal would be like that after a massive travel, and the dragons were no different.

Akaashi had laughed for a full five minutes when Kuroo came to dinner in the great hall, looking like a sooty black paintbrush, hair standing straight up, robes burned at the edges and still smouldering slightly. 

“Where- where's your wand” Akaashi managed to say between laughs. 

He swore Akaashi never used to laugh this much before he met Kuroo. Maybe it was Kuroos suffering that brought him pure happiness. Who was he joking, of course it was.

“I left it behind so that no drag- so it wouldn't light on fire, and so no I can't clean myself up, and yes i've come to ask if you can do it” Kuroo huffed, grumpily.

Around him, small sprinkles of the black soot fell from his robes and decorated the ground. Multiple teachers were giving him a disgraced look, while other students peered over their shoulders, wondering why Kuroo looked like a piece of charred meat.

A few more slams of a fist on the table and a snort from Akaashi sent Kuroo into a fury. He was standing in front of the Slytherin table, and if he didn't get displeased looks before, he was now getting disgusted looks. Thank god Tsukishima had not yet arrived and Kuroo had been able to take the chance to march over to Akaashi, risking his poor pride. 

“Okay, okay, let me just-” Akaashi patted his robes looking for his own wand, when he burst into another bout of breathy laughter.

“Kenma!?” Kuroo pouted, splaying his hands out to getsure at Akaashi, while looking at his other friend.

The small boy to the right of Akaashi was very purposely not making eye contact with him, poking at his roasted potatoes with a well clenched fork between his hands.

“So embarrassing” Kenma muttered, ducking his head further. 

“Akaashi” Kuroo said in a dead serious tone. “You have to hurry before-”.

“Why is there a lump of charcoal at the Slytherin table” a grumpy voice sounded behind him.

Kuroo froze on the spot, held his breath and clenched his eyes shut.  
Why, why, why.

“That's your lump of charcoal” Kenma spoke, raising his head with distaste.

Kuroo still held his eyes clamped shut as he heard footsteps walk around him. He inched open one eye, just slightly, just a bit, and oh god yep it was Tsukishima. The blonde was looking him up and down with amusement.

“I’d make a joke about being on Santa's naughty list, but you look like you really don't want to hear it right now” Tsukishima smirked, before slotting in on Akaashis left side.

“Snakes” Kuroo hisses. “Snakes and Dragons” he huffs out in exasperation, and he turns to make his way to the Gryffindor table. 

You see...

Kuroo used to love screaming as he and Bokuto slid down the moving staircases, wondering whether they would triumph or whether one of them would fall and drag the other down with them. He still does.

He used to love reading about muddy creatures and firey toads, shiny lightning snails and furry platypuses. He would conjure them from the book with a flick of his wand, sending the Gryffinor table sprawling with snickers and shouts as the animals trampled over food and tipped over cups and plates alike.

He loved waking up every year, a new year at Hogwarts with new pranks to buy in hogsmeade, new quidditch plays to try out, new books and his ever advancing knowledge of the wizarding world. 

Bokuto and him would drag Kenma into the forbidden forest to escape their vice teacher, who found them trying to tie a canoe to every owl in the owlery. A gift from Bokuto to his family in Hawaii. Kenma groans about how he had nothing to do with any of this and how did they get a canoe anyhow? Kuroo only laughs.

But now, now he thinks that maturity has started to settle into his veins, his eyes wiser and along with it he trades his love for bringing grey hairs to his teachers and trying to steal books out of the restricted section in the dark hours of the library.

He trades it for walking Tsukishima down to the river, for dragging the blonde to the Gryffindor table every few mornings with mild protests, to conjuring animals from his magical creatures book, but only so Tsukishima looks away from his homework every 3 hours. 

In some way, Tsukishima had brought out the more calmer side of him, that made him work harder, feel stronger and be a better person, aiming towards his goals, giving him extra reason to get up in the mornings. He hadn't been in detention once since meeting him.

And in a different way, Kuroo brought out the side of Tsukishima that had eyes shining in amusement when Bokuto and him stole the sorting hat, only for it to get stuck to Bokuto's head, making him laugh for days after. Tsukishima became more relaxed, young at heart like he should be, and it made him glow brighter without a resting scowl on his face.

In his head Kuroo wonders why he hadn't noticed him all these years.

In only such a short time, the blonde had cultivated him into... something else. He helped him with his potions homework, grabbed books off the top shelf for him with a snigger, and playfully teased him about how fast he drowned himself in miso soup. And in thanks… in return he had gone and gotten a crush on the blonde. 

Something clearly not wanted.

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The first task was today. Kuroo was ecstatic. But right now, it looked as if all the champions needed some decently good luck potions about now.

Kiyoko was sitting in a corner on a low wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Ushijima looked even surlier than usual, which Kuroo supposed was his way of showing nerves. Oikawa was pacing up and down. 

When Kuroo entered, Oikawa gave him a small smile, which Kuroo returned, feeling the muscles in his face working rather hard, as though they had forgotten how to do it. The nervousness of everyone had started to affect him, but it hardly dampened his spirits when everyone gathered round and a small purple silk bag was pulled out.

"Well, now we're all here - time to fill you in!" said the bagman brightly. " I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up the small sack of silk and shook it at them - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face!”.

Kuroo had worked very hard on assisting with miniaturizing the dragons, proven by his disheveled appearance at last night's feast.

“There are different - er - varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too. . . ah, yes. . . your task is to collect the golden egg!"

"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Kiyoko. 

She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - an Antipodean Opaleye with the number two. She looked determined more than startled.

Ushijima was next. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground. 

Oikawa put his hand into the bag, and out came the Ukrainian Ironbelly, the number one tied around its neck. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs. 

When the officials had cleared the tent, Kiyoko pulled out with them, he wondered if he should stick around go try find Tsukishima, who had said he would wait in the stands for him.

But Oikawa, who had looked shaken up before, looked even more shook up after returning to the small group, having just talked to Iwaizumi. Who he assumed was his...friend, boyfriend? Honestly he should talk to his quidditch keeper more.

Cautiously Kuroo approached him where he was standing, playing with his fingers absentmindedly, eyebrows scrunched hard.

“Hey, hey, Oikawa right?” Kuroo asked, placing a warm hand on his shoulder. Oikawa jumped at the action, pulled out of his own obviously overthinking mind.

“Kuroo, Gryffindors seeker” Oikawa gave a respectful nod. 

Oikawa had been Ravenclaws seeker for as long as Kuroo had known quidditch existed, and he really didn't get the attention he deserved. Well not that he didn't get attention. He did from girls. Just not in general for his amazing plays. 

“I saw you got the largest dragon there. They use that one to guard Gringotts bank” Kuroo hummed.

Oikawa immediately paled, mouth dropping open slightly. His eyes widened and he mouthed for words, fear obvious on his face.

Kuroo flinched inwardly.  
“Shit, wait I didn't mean to panic you more” he raised his hands in the air, trying to feign innocence.

“Its okay, I knew what I was getting into when I dropped my stupid name in that goblet” Oikawa sighed, running his hands through his chestnut hair.

“Yea, sorry about Bokuto dragging you into this. I told him he was an idiot, but for some reason he never seems to understand” Kuroo huffs. “Must be because he's an idiot” he shrugs it off.

“Actually I was already planning on entering” Oikawa chuckled. The colour seemed to be returning to his face. “He did very much encourage me though, such a positive guy” he sang, smiling.

“Yea, he has that effect on people” Kuroo smiles. Okay maybe his friend wasn't that bad, he should stop berating him so much.

“He even gave me a tip on the first task” Oikawa scratched the back of his neck. “Good job on the dragons by the way, they looked really cool”.

“I'm pretty sure the information got around by itself” Kuroo gazed at the other opponents. They hadn't looked very surprised when pulling a dragon out of the bag. “And also thanks” Kuroo added. “I should probably get going now”.

Suddenly there was a large anamiliatic screech from outside, and Kuroo and Oikawa barely jumped out of the way as a large rip sliced through the wall of the tent. Both of them shared a look of relief, but he fought the grin off his own face as he saw Oikawa's horrified look.

“Got any advice?” Oikawa asked, voice hoarse.

“Dragons” Kuroo pointed at the slashed wall of the tent. “Have very large talons”.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

Aside from the roars of a dragon and the chanting of the crowd, it was a nice day out. At least Kuroo thought so as he made his way out the gloomy tent and outside. The sky was crisp and blue, bathing everything in irradiated bright light. Not a stormy cloud in sight.

Kuroo made his way over to the stands. Glee danced in his chest at the thought of Tsukki waiting for him, and his overpowering smile was fought back with a thought of delight. He’d meet up with him and Tsukishima would probably go,

“What took you so long, fatass?”.

To which Kuroo would reply,

“Hey, im dummy thicc”.

And then Tsukishima would say “damn right you are”, and they'd meet in the middle for a passionate searing kiss under the resounding thunder of the dragons beating wings and raucous screeching. And Kuroo would be surrounded in everything he ever wanted and it would be perfect...

Apart from it definitely wouldn't go like that, and Tsukishima would probably just sneer when he saw Kuroo and tell him to sit down, even though Kuroo could would see the inkling expression of amusement and cheer in his eyes. Because Tsukishima was sweet like that. A total Tsundere.

Kuroo soon spotted a group of his friends, Hanamakai, Matsukawa and Tsukki, sitting near the top of one of the stadium rows. His eyes slid over the dragon to human combat that was occuring in the fighting pit. Anyone who saw him smiling at the situation would think of him as crazy. He approached his friends with a sly but proud grin.

“What took you so long, fatass?” Tsukishima asked.

Kuroos mouth fell open.

“No, hes dummy thicc, can't you see” Hanamaki pointed out, leaning forward to look at the blonde around Matsukawa.

“Whats going on right now” Kuroo said to himself, bewildered.

There was a loud cheering and they all whipped around to find that Kiyoko was successfully holding a golden egg, clutched close to her chest. Next to her lay the pearly white dragon, lying with its head to the ground and not moving. Its lean wings gave a few twitches before sliding languidly to its side.

Kuroos eyes widened and his heart clenched, beating vigorously. He fell down to the seat next to the blonde, not taking his eyes off the dragon as applause followed Kiyoko out of the fighting pit.

Suddenly Tsukishima was putting a hand on his arm and giving it a slight squeeze. It was warm and reassuring.

“Don't worry, she just used a type of knockout spell, nothing bad happened to the dragon” Tsukishima said, voice soft and calm.

Kuroos eyes finally pulled away to look at the blonde, who seemed to be the only one around them not surging forward with excited gazing eyes and happy unknowing grins. 

“Oh, haha yea, sorry” Kuroo shook his head, pulling his arm away from the blondes touch and carding through his hair with a wobbly grin.

“What you should be really looking out for is that Ushijima Wakatoshi” Tsukishima mumbled under the loud chatter of students around them. “Seems like the type of guy who wouldn't be as worried as to hold back on any innocent pawn”.

Kuroo nodded wordlessly, trying to convey his thanks. His eyes soon whipped back to the pit as the champions tent flaps were drawn aside and out stepped the famous quidditch player. The buoyant cheers roared harder than any dragon could as Ushijima raised a fist to the air. Chants from fellow Durmstrang students were the loudest of the lot. He would have to keep an eye on this match, just incase.

Suddenly there was a tap on his shoulder from behind him. Both Tsukishima and him turn around to see who is leaning over them. 

“Kuroo Tetsurou?” the man asked. His skin was tan, slanting eyebrows and a shaved head. A luxurious but well worn coat sat upon his shoulders. The man walked around the seat to stand in front of Kuroo. His stature was broad and strong, a scar falling deep over his collarbone.

“The one and only” Kuroo choked out in confusion. His eyes tried to dart around the wide figure of the man as he heard a simulation crowd gasp and a dragon roar. 

“My names Kai, I'm the owner of these dragons and I heard you were the one who helped out along my trainer. If you can, I'd like to talk to you in private” the man smiled warmly.

Oh shit, he was being rude. But also..the task.

Kuroo and Tsukishima shared a nervous look. It was obvious he was worried about the match, about the outcome, but the blonde only gave him a nod that said go on. Kuroo nodded back.

“I’d be happy to” he smiled back at the man, and he stood up to follow Kai, who was making his way out of the stands.

He was entrusting the safety and overview of this match to Tsukishima in some kind of way. Not that he was sure what the blonde could do if something did go wrong...and again, he didn't even know what he might do. It’s not like he could jump over the railings and run to the dragon wailing something about “That's my boy! That's my SON”. 

But if Kai wanted to talk to him, he should go.

Sound he found himself standing just outside of the stadium, looking towards at the path that lead them to the school. The wind rustled his hair and made his robes flutter.

“Seventh year?” Kai asked.

“Yep, last year” Kuroo replied.

“I've heard good things about you, many good things. You’ve handled my dragons with the utmost care, and im grateful for that” Kai nodded, folding his hand behind his black coat.

“Thank you, really it was great working with them. I thought it might be impossible to ever get a chance like this, so you've done a lot for me” Kuroo smiled politely.

“Well” Kai chuckled. “I'm about to do a lot more for you”.

“Sir?” Kuroo asked. 

“How would you like an apprenticeship, Kuroo?”.

And just like that, Kuroo was off on another planet. His heart soared and he couldn't fight the grin rising on his face. Energy coursed through his body and he felt like he could scream out in triumph. This had been his dream, was his dream, is now no longer a dream but a reality!

“You would be working alongside a few of my best employed dragonologists for a while before ranking up, but it's good work and, well, you'd have to move to Romania of course-”.

“Yes” Kuroo answered swiftly.

Kais eyes opened with surprise.

“it's a big decision to make, are you sure? You can have more time to think about”.

“Yes, yes, yes” Kuroo grinned wildly. His eyes gleamed, excitedness uncontained. Out of the eye, Kuroo thought he had a choke of surprise or shuffling of feet. He peered around, but saw no one.

“Well that's great!” Kai boomed, laughing yet again. “ I thought for sure this conversation would go a different direction”.

“I was already planning on doing anything to get on your team” Kuroo chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.

“Oh” Kai said, a thoughtful face now replacing his delighted expression. “Now that I think of it, for the second task there's going to be grindylows, and i've been told the caretaker ducked out of the job. How are you with creatures that aren't dragons?”.

Kuroos sudden mirth died down into a more reserved look. “Im uh, i'm fine with them, but…” he trailed off, concerned. “Arent grindylows home to water?”.

Kai nodded firmly, folding his arms to look out across the layout of the land. “Indeed, the second task will be held in the schools black lake. Can you handle it?” his head swiveled back to look at Kuroo, questioning.

Of course, of course it had to be goddamn water. And he couldn't back down from this, not after being held so high in Kai's eyes. If anything this could slim his chances of becoming an apprenticeship. Even if he just was offered the job, it could be taken away just like that.

“I’d be glad to” Kuroo teeth flashing with a grin.

“I’ll talk to your headmaster straight away. You have a very bright future young man”.  
And with yet another firm nod, Kai was walking away. Kuroo watched his back disappear as he walked off into the tents. Only then did he throw his arms in the air and shout in victory. 

“YES” Kuroo screamed into the air. He closed his eyes, breathing heavily as he tried to control the burst of happiness threatening to over take him, when suddenly there was a hand gripping his arm. His eyes shot open to find a girl, both her hands gripping his forearm.

“Kuroo, did you just accept his offer?” the girl asked. Her voice was light and high pitched.

Kuroo staggered back slightly.

The girl was tall, long legs and a cute face. The way she was frowning was familiar. The stern disappointed look. Black curls fell to her slim shoulders and thin drawn eyebrows settled over...grass green eyes.

“A-akaashi?” he uttered out, stunned.

Suddenly the girls hair was cutting away to locks of short midnight curls and he regained his familiar looking original form.

“I'm a metamorphmagus, I thought for sure Bokuto would of told you by now” Akaashi raised a finger to his chin, thoughts deep within turmoil. His voice was now considerably lower, calmer.

“Must make your activities in bed fun” Kuroo jokes, getting past his initial shock of Akaashi in a girl form. 

“That’s none of your business, Kuroo” Akaashi frowned heavily. “Now tell me, did you accept that apprenticeship?”.

Kuroo blinked a few times. “You were eavesdropping on me” he stated more than questioned.

“Purely out of accident, I swear” Akaashi replied with a hint of guilt.

“Well, I mean yeah, I guess I did” Kuroo shrugged. “Why wouldn't I?”.

“Are you going to tell Tsukishima?” Akaashi asked. His face showed worry.

Kuroos eyebrows drew together. He hadn't thought about that at the time…  
But what was to think about, of course he wouldn't tell the blonde.

“No way, if I tell him im leaving for an apprenticeship, he might think becoming friends with me as unnecessary- if im just gonna be gone soon anyway” Kuroo scuffed at the dirt underneath his feet.

“That is so idiotic, I don't even want to acknowledge it” Akaashi shook his head with a sense of calamity. ‘You know he won't think of it like that”.

“It's better if I think of it like that though” Kuroo grimaced. “It’s not like our relationship is going anywhere, and I’d rather we be happy in the meantime.''

He looked down to the ground, fiddling with his fingers.  
“I’ll just spring it on him before I leave, and all will be well”.

“Stupid, im surrounded by stupid” Akaashi sighed, raising his head to massage his temples.

“I know what im saying, im not stupid” Kuroo argued, eyes flitting back up to Akasshi. “Just please let me tell myself what I want”.

“You're going to tell him, or I will” Akaashis eyes narrowed.

“You would!? What's with these threats?” Kuroos face fell grim.

“Well, no I wouldn't...it's up to you what you do...but still…: Akaashi trailed off, looking off as if he didnt know what to say.

“I’ll tell him...just not now, okay” Kuroo mumbled.

“I suppose” Akaashi heaved with a sigh, and both of them fell into step as they walked back the short distance towards the stadium.

“Thanks, Kaash” he smiled weakly.

“Its Akaashi, and you're welcome” Akasshi nodded.

“Now about that bed thing” Kuroo dwindled off.

“Yes it makes our activities considerably more interesting” Akaashi sighs. “But i’d say Bokuto doesn't care about that as much as when I transform into an owl” he snorts.

“Oh my god, he’d love that” Kuroo bursts into laughter.

“He does” Akaashi smiles gently.

When they return to the stands, Oikawa has just recovered the golden egg, the sleeves up his forearms burned to a crisp. Kuroo slings an arm around Tsukishima and spouts off a few jokes. Tsukishima rebuttals by threatening to charm his robes neon pink.

Later on Kuroo settles for smiling at Tsukishima across a crowded room as a bunch of Hogwarts students celebrate the first task and crack open the egg. It opens and reveals an ear splitting scream that makes Tsukishima duck off to the library mumbling about rowdiness, Kuroo quick on his heels and laughing.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

“The Yule ball can eat my ass” Kuroo grumbles.

“But bro, if it weren't for the ball, we wouldn't be bonding like this” Bokuto replies with a large grin. 

The vice teacher had called all of Gryffindor into a meeting where she revealed that a ball would be taking place. It was something occuring between the first and second task and was undoubtedly something no students would miss out on, or else. Kuroo had almost hightailed it out of the room after seeing their vice in an impromptu gown.

High class, silk, bands, flowing gowns, buttoned tuxes and...dancing. He wasn't opposed to it, but god damn if it hurt his pride when he could say yea he was the playboy of the school, but his dancing skills were not the best. He wasn't the worst...still, practicing was just the tip of the iceberg that lead to his irritation.

“Bokuto if you step on my toes one more fucking time-” Kuroo growls as Bokuto leads them around the large room. 

They're dancing resembles a clumsy waltz compared to the other students around the room, stepping and swaying as though they had prepared all their lives for this moment.

“Testerou, if you're unsatisfied with your dancing partner you can always pick a nice girl” the vice teacher notes, pressing her glasses higher abridge her nose.

“Don't be a homophobe miss” Hanamaki says in a sing song voice as he tangos around the room with Matsukawa. They part the other waltzing students with swift movements and snappy motions, obviously well practiced.

“Yea it’s 2020, miss. Watch as the gays come flocking from the closests” Matsukawa adds, dipping Hanamaki in front of the vice as the pink haired boy laughs. She only gives a huff before stalking off to the side of the room to observe and correct other dancing partners.

“Bro, why didn't you choose a girl. Are we a couple?” Bokuto asks with teasingness.

They both have hands entwined and Kuroo realizes with a blink that he has his other hand on Bokutos back while Bokutos hand rests on Kuroos waist. That means he's dancing the woman's position. Crap.

“Ohoho, don't want Akaashi catching wind of those words” Kuroo retorts with a grin. Bokutos smirk falls off his face in an instant.

“Oi, oi”. 

Kuroo realizes Hanamaki and Matsukawa have come to a dull waltz, dancing on the spot, just like their own unenthusiastic swaying. 

“Look over there” Matsukawa smirks, pointing over to the left corner of the room.

Bokuto and him swing their heads to look in the direction he points at, and sees that Kageyama and Hinata have also paired up. Both share heated red faces as they stand way too close, grip on each other way too tight to be comfortable. 

“Should I yell WOOH get it” Bokuto asks.

Hanamaki and Matsukawa share a devils nod while Kuroo only shakes his head.

“You've got it all wrong, Chibi-chans into Kenma” Kuroo chuckles.

All three boys turn to stare at him incredulously wide eyes. But it was true. The two chasers were probably just arguing and jabbing at each other instead of sharing the blush of two lovebirds.

“What?”.

“Huh?”.

“I thought Kenma was asexual for sure”.

“Nope” Kuroo hums. “And the thing is Kenma is totally into him as well. Its like watching a terrible rom com when they interact”.

“That is so cute!” Bokuto gushes.

“Oh my god I can paint the picture already” Hanamaki laughs, staring at the ceiling.

“Share thou’s thoughts” Matsukawa grins.

They've all stopped dancing by now. Kuroo and Bokuto stand in place while still obliviously holding hands in the air as their attention and eyes are directed at the pink haired boy. Matsukawa and Hanamaki have also tuned it down to a fine sway, like background music on a lazy day.

“Lets just say we should totally place bets” Hanamaki grins smugly.

“Hinata has gotta ask Kenma out sometime soon since the ball is approaching. Its just when” Matsukawas eyes gleam with intention.

“Ooo so what are we betting!” Bokuto hoots.

“Well” Hanamaki pulls away from Matsukawa. He taps his fingers against each other evilly in the air. “Lets narrow this down individually, shall we?”.

His arm swings around to point at Bokuto intensely.  
“You have to dye your hair a neon color for the ball, make it Akaashis least favorite as well, just for the memes”.

Bokuto shrugs easily with a grin, as if he hadn't dyed his hair rainbow in 3rd year.

“You” Hanamakis arm swings wildly to Kuroo threateningly. “You have to confess to Tsukishima”.

“You know about that!?”. Kuroo unclasps his hands with Bokuto to hold a hand against his chest. “Betrayal everywhere I go” he wails, wiping away a dramatic fake tear. “And also no”.

“What, why” his friend pouts.

“That's risky and not on the same level that Bokuto's easy hair punishment is” Kuroo cocks an eyebrow.

Hanamaki turns to look at Matsukawa for advice, who in turn twists his mouth and shrugs as if to say “he's got a point”.

“Okay, you have to ask Tsukishima for one dance” Hanamaki swivels around and is back to his signature smug grinning. 

Kuroo complentates it for a second or perhaps even less. “Okay, fair”.

“That is if you don't get together with him before hand” Matsukawa coughs into the crook of his elbow.

The three of his friends snicker around him as Kuroo folds his arms over his chest and gives an authentic pout, close to rivaling Bokutos. 

“What about your loverboys punishment then, huh” Kuroo tilts his head towards Matsukawa. He seems to be picking underneath of his nails with disinterest, as if he knew he was going to get off scot free.

“Obviously his punishment is one wild night of romance and a passionate evening in bed” Hanamaki throws his arms around a now gently smiling Matsukawa. “A night to remember” he presses their faces together.

Kuroo and Bokuto both share a look, grimacing.  
“TMI” they say disgustedly in unson.

“TETSUROU, KOUTAROU” the vice screams. “Don't let me see those feet stop moving!” she yells from across the large room. Kuroo and Bokutos hands immediately fly to find purchase on each other and they begin to dance with large panicked motions.

Kuroo gawps as Hanamaki and Matsukawa stick out their tongue, having not being told off. Then they dance away with a “Place bets when we get outta this room. Later losers”.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

“Am I going?” Tsukishima asks, confused.

Kuroo nods bleakly. The two of them were heading to the great hall for breakfast after a particularly early study period in which Kuroo complained the whole time. Tsukishimas argument was that he was going to be busy that afternoon as their own house teacher was going to drag the Slytherins to a dance practice.

“Yea, are you?” Kuroo repeats his question.

But Tsukishima seems anything but unaware of the question at hand. Instead he just looks as if the answer is obvious.

“Isn't it mandatory?” the blonde asks as they step into the great hall. The noise is loud with chatter and Kuroo ducks to miss a swooping owl carrying letters. 

“Well the teachers all say it is but really you can skip the whole thing without the ass whoopings they're threatening”.

Kuroo grins as he notices that Tsukishima has followed him to the Gryffindor table, a habit that had been picked up on the way. More like it was something Kuroo constantly drilled and annoyed the blonde about, until now he was spending half his time at the red lions table. 

It was as if he was split into two different houses, and Kuroo could easily imagine the snarky blonde wrapped in crimson robes and commentating on their late night card games in the common room. 

Such a shame. Perhaps then they would of shared beds by each other and he wouldn't have to endure Bokuto crawl into his bed every night only to be pushed out by Kuroo, or reluctantly be let to stay, only to be kicked multiple times in the back. He had the bruises to show it.

Suddenly the raven haired boy was narrowly saved from dropping the sleeve of his robes on his honey toast as Tsukishima grabbed his wrist.

“Kuroo are you listening to me” he tutts.

Kuroo looked at the shared contact between with them with almost a salivated mouth. God he had it bad. Way too bad. Cause Tsukishimas hand was so slender and yet so strong, and it looked way too good next to his own tanned skin.

“Sorry, sorry what?”. His eyes darted back up to the blonde as Tsukishima places his arm far from his plate.

“I'm going to go to my table for a moment. I'm expecting a package and ive been giving my owl heart attacks trying to figure out where in the hall I'll be” Tsukishima brushes off Kuroos phasing out.

“You have an owl?” Kuroo asks as the blonde stands from the bench.

“Well it's a family owl, but yes” Tsukishima replies.

Kuroo tries to push back the thought that Bokuto could easily talk to Tsukishimas owl and gather information about the blonde for him. Not that Tsukishima wasn't forthcoming... Okay but he wasn't, Kuroo wanted to know more. And at this point the blonde had only been feeding him table scraps of facts about himself.

He snaps out of his daze when Tsukishima starts to walk off without even a goodbye.

“Wait, what about the dance thing? Are you going?” Kuroo yells loudly after him.

A few heads turn to look at the noise and Tsukishima flips him the middle finger over his shoulder. Kuroo smirks. Okay maybe he knew him a little better than he thought. Cause for sure he knew he hated any form of attention or anything louder than an inside voice. How he managed to hang out with Kuroo and withstand the bursts of energy that Bokuto is, was surely a mystery.

“Aw, are you trying to break our beat already” Hanamaki says. Kuroo turns to find Matsukawa and Hanamaki, who had been watching the whole thing.

“Wanting to receive your punishment early?” Matsukawa wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“Naughty” Hanamaki teases.

“Why does it constantly sound like you're trying to have a threesome with everyone you talk to” Kuroo half sighs and half picks at his toast.

“Trying to steal that playboy role of yours” Hanamaki wags a finger at him.

“I dropped that ages ago” Kuroo snorts.

“Yea you dropped it when you started hanging out with glasses” Matsukawa nods with a playful manner.

“Oh, shut up” Kuroo scoffs, biting into his food. The honey is sweet and rich and he nearly moans with appreciation, eyes fluttering shut.

“Look he's pretending the toast is Tsukishima” Hanamaki giggles.

“I see it, I really do” Matsukawa lays his chin on his propped up hand.

“Okay, but when are you telling him about the apprenticeship” Hanamaki asks, a serious edge to his tone. Kuroo nearly chokes on his food. He dives for a water glass.

“How do you know everything!” Kuroo wheezes. He takes a sip from his glass. Obviously it had to be Akaashi. Unless he had three people eavesdropping on him a week ago.

Matsukawa only taps his nose and Hanamaki reaches for a bunch of grapes, eyes still locked dead onto Kuroo.

“Answer” Hanamaki says demandingly.

I- I...” Kuroo tries. “I don't know. Soon though, I swear...probably, maybe” he frowns, popping the last bit of toast in his mouth.

“Well while you're at it, are you going to confess your feelings?” Matsukawa asks, eyebrows raising.

Kuroo frowns deeper.  
“Hell no, no no no I want to be friends with him first remember”.

Hanamaki and Matsukawa immediately go tight lipped. Their eyes crinkle and cheeks blow out as they try to hold back muffled laughter.

“What is it now!” Kuroo accuses.

“You're way past the friendship level, dude!” Hanamaki says. He shakes his head disappointedly as if he were Kuroos unimpressed potions teacher.

“You spend every free minute with each other and the other day I basically saw him sitting on your lap in the library!” Mastukawa tacks on.

Kuroos eyes widen and his mouth falls open.  
“He tripped and fell backwards. I happened to be there to catch him” he says back in defense.

“And then happened to stay like that for an extra five minutes as you pointed at something in the book you were reading” Hanamaki cocks an eyebrow in question.

“I was asking about something! And it wasn't like I was keeping him there against his will”.

Kuroo agreed to himself that it had indeed been a rather happy time as Tsukishimas warm body had been perched on the edge of his knee, hands brushing Kuroos own as he pointed out the difference between two casting spells. He had almost fainted as the blonde had shifted in his lap to get a closer look at the fine print, almost doing...something to him again. God he had such an easy effect, it was a good guess how he was alive at all.

“Only because he didn't mind~” Hanamaki sings.

Kuroo desperately glances around, hoping to find Bokuto. Where the heck was he? He needed some backup to fend off these wolves. Then again...Bokuto would probably just gang up on him too, and then he’d have three people telling him to get his shit together. That was way more than he needed.

“Well we’re hanging after breakfast AS friends, so you can both shove it” Kuroo smirked triumphantly. 

“You two spending time together, I don't think so” Hanamkai frowns with a knowing expression. Kuroo wants to punch it off his face.

“No, Bokuto and Akaashi will be there too” Kuroo replies, snarkily.

It was true, they were all going to go hang out in the courtyard to relax as they had first period of class free.

“Oh, so a double date! In practice for the ball” Matsukawa says excitedly.

“Noooo” Kuroo wails. “Okay look I admit I like him, but i'm still not asking him to the ball” Kuroo huffs.

“Oh…” Hanamaki says.

“Well...I guess that won't be a problem anyways” Matsukawa adds.

Kuroo notices that both boys have sudden serious expressions, their faces stiff as boards. What the? What was going on? Did they suddenly see Kuroos reasoning.

“What do you mean?” he asks, curious.

“Well, our homeboy Tsukishima may or may not be being asked out right about now” Hanamaki grimaces. 

Kuroo sees the two boys are both looking behind him and he swivels around to see that the blonde had been halfway to the Gryffindor table when stopped by a girl. She was tall and slender, brown bouncy curls falling over her Slytherin robes and a cute button nose to accompany.

Her eyes were shining and glossy with excitement. Kuroo realized with a jolt that Tsukishima didn't seem to be pulling away without hesitation. Not a rejection? Infact, he could see that the blonde had a little quirk of a smile pulling at his lips as he replied ...and then she was blushing. Oh god she was blushing.

Kuroo broke away upon feeling a hand on his shoulder, and he turned back to his friends, who had wiped the full time smirk off their face in turn for a somber expression.

“Hey man-” Matsukawa starts, pulling his hand away.

“It's fine” Kuroo interrupts quickly. He reaches for his goblet and takes a quick sip.  
“Its fine, its fine, it's not like I haven't already had three girls ask me already” he shrugs. His movements feel stiff and tense.

“Have you accepted any of those invitations?” Hanamaki asks.

“No?”.

“Dude, aren't you supposed to be one of the first dancers after all the triwizard champion couples start” Matsukawa frowns. Kuroo pales at this. Shit. Shit, shit, they were right.

“I’ll find someone” Kuroo nods to himself, bleakly.

The two boys in front of him sigh heavily.

“Kuroo, you ready to go?”.

Suddenly Tsukishima is behind him. He looks unphased, as if he hadn't just been confessed to. As if he maybe just hadn't said yes. Kuroo had no idea what was going on through his mind as the blonde stared back at him blankly with question.

“Yea, I’ll see you guys later” he waves to Hanamaki and Matsukawa as he stands.

All three of them share a somewhat pained understanding look. Kuroo doesn't like it.  
“Yea, good luck” Hanamaki says.

And then the two of them are walking off and out of the great hall. On a normal day Kuroo would feel eager to get any time to spend with the blonde that he could get. But now as Tsukishima and him walk, their hands brush together and Kuroo feels himself recoil, tugging his arm to his side in anger. Hopefully it doesn't show.

Tsukishima gives him a raised eyebrow look, but ignores it and Kuroo wonders why he feels so betrayed.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

“Hey there you two are! Come, come we’re playing wizard chess” Bokuto yells excitedly.

Akaashi and him are sitting smack in the middle of grass field in the courtyard. Akaashis cross legged and looking very troubled at the board game in front of them while Bokuto lays on his stomach, turning to beckon them.

“Wizard chess? Is that even a challenge for Akaashi” Tsukishima grins as they approach their friends.

Akaashi only looks up meekly, eyes tired.  
“It’s like he's bending the rules” he mumbles.

Tsukishima and hit him sit on the grass and get comfortable. Tsukishima almost immediately pulls out a book while Kuroo leans over and points at the board, fascinated. 

“Hey where's your knight, Kaashi?” Kuroo asks.

The curly haired boy only throws his hands into his hair.  
“Ask him” his voice is exasperated as he nods weakly towards Bokuto.

Bokuto only grins cheekily, poking half his tongue out. His feet play with each other in the air behind him. “I'm the best”. His voice is gloaty.

“Only because you somehow bribe the pieces into disappearing into thin air” Akaashi retorts. His hand faintly falls on his queen piece, before thinking better of it. 

“It's not like their sentient, right” Kuroo mumbles as he observes the moving pieces. They shuffle in place as if they were alive. He even sees one itch behind his ear. Chess pieces have itches?

“Soooo, talking of the dance” Bokuto starts.

“We weren't” Tsukishima interrupts, flicking a page of his book, gaze not wavering.

Kuroo wants to chuckle at the cuteness, but his brain flips to the previous image of the girl in the hall, and his stomach twists into knots. Suddenly he doesn't think its cute anymore. Rather its annoying. What's even more annoying is that the blonde hadn't even brought it up yet.

“Well I want to talk about it, so we are” Bokuto moves his king a few squares forward and Kuroo watches Akaashi visibly gulp.

“Okay well have you asked Akaashi what his least favorite color is?” Kuroo chuckles.

Akaashi shoots him a confused glance.  
“Why would he do that?”.

“T-to get to know you better” Bokuto interjects. He scowls at Kuroo quickly before returning to the game. Bokuto didn't look as if he thought he was going to lose the bet any time soon.

“Maybe we should talk about Kenma and Hinata then” Kuroo waggles his eyebrows. Bokuto turns to look at him again for the second time, giving him a confused angry stare. He knew Kuroo wanted to try speed up the chances of them getting together.

“it's not fun to tease Kenma when he's not here, Kuroo” Bokuto puts emphasis on his name.

“Where is Kenma anyway?” Tsukishima finally raises his head from his book. He turns to look around, as if the small boy happened to be hiding. Which really, it had happened before. He was just too goddamn tiny as well as sneaky.

“Probably helping Hinata with his dress robes. I heard they arrived today” Kuroo sings teasingly.

“Like you have anyone to go with yet” Akaashi snorts.

Kuroos face falls into a sneer, but Tsukishimas head pops up from the book one again. Not that he's interested in the conversation or anything. Obviously the blonde wouldn't be into it. He's probably wanting to tell them to shut up about it right goddamn now before he stalks off in a quest for peace and quiet.

But Kuroo can't help it. He wants to inquire more. He needs to exhaust all the possibilities that could lead him to Tsukishima bringing up his confession this morning. He was greedy. Greedy to find out what his answer had been.

“Oh yea bro, don't you have to be one of the first dancers” Bokuto laughs. “If you're anything like you were yesterday in dance practice, you're done for.''

“That was you” Kuroo spits. “Your wingspan is massive. No pun intended” Kuroo tacks on with a jeering grin.

“That wasn't me” Bokuto retorts with a pout.

“I’ll feel pity for Akaashi on the night, really” Kuroo batts his eyelashes.

Akaashi and Tsukishima watch the playful argument like a tennis match before Akaashi is coughing, insinuating that he wants to talk. Both boys shut up and turn to look at him.

“The ball is in three days, Kuroo. Honestly, who are you going to take?” Akaashi looks at him before his eyes subtly shift to Tsukishima, who is very pointedly looking at the ground, playing with grass like it was the most important thing in the universe.

“I... had another girl ask me out this morning. I can always fall back on her?” Kuroo shrugs. Suddenly Tsukishima's eyes are on him, searing with confusion and on the brink of looking like he wants to interrogate him. 

Yea hows it feel, your friend not telling you anything. Surprising right, Kuroo wants to say.  
But he doesn't. 

“What happened to not being interested in girls” Tsukishima asks, eyebrow cocking.

Kuroo leans back, confounded, when he realizes that he had told the blonde the very first time they had met, that he was very much not into girls. 

Or at least he was more into guys...or a certain guy. 

Was Tsukima straight. Wait why hadn't he even thought of that before. He just kind of assumed he swung both ways.

“It’s not like I have a lot of options. All the gays in this school seem to be coupled up as if the stars aligned them” Kuroo gives a look towards Bokuto and Akaashi. “Unless~” he smirks at Akaashi.

“Woah, no way bro” Bokuto forms an x with his fingers, and then yelps when his pawn piece is snatched by Akaashis bishop.

“Don't worry Bokuto, I have no intention of being seen with Kuroo, at least in my original form” Akaashi says.

“Hey, are you hinting that you can turn into a girl and dance with me” Kuroo leans forward, excited. Cause really it was funny to rile the curly haired boy up when he had the chance.

“Let's leave that as the last possible solution” Akaashi sighs.

“But, Akaashi” Bokuto pouts. “We’re supposed to be dancing together”.

“Might I mention that you haven't even asked me yet, Bokuto” Akaashi doesn't bat an eyelash as he takes away yet another of Bokuto's chess pieces, to his boyfriend's dismay.

“Right, right, i'll get on that” Bokuto scratches the back of his neck, face red.  
“A-anyways, what about you Tsukki? You got someone?”.

He’s quick to get the attention off him and onto the blonde with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Tsukishima who seemed to have been in a trance looking at the ground, suddenly jerked up.  
“What?” he asks. And then he’s looking around frantically. “Oh shit, I forgot I don't have a study period like you guys”.

“What?” Kuroo asks. Because the conversation had just gotten to a point where he could get an answer out of him and from his mishap this morning. Now the chance was slipping away.

Tsukishima shoves his book in his bag before he's climbing to his feet.

“Tsukki you tease. Tell us!” Bokuto shakes a fist as the blonde brushes the grass off his robes in a hurry.

“I might. I don't know yet” Tsukishima says simply. 

If Kuroo thinks Tsukishima's eyes flicker to him when saying those words, he lets it fly over his head.

Then the blonde is walking off down the grassy field and disappearing between the columns. It always seemed like he could disappear at his own convenience, leaving Kuroo with more questions than he had started off with.

“Check” Bokuto sings. His fingers hover over Akaashis king piece, tantalizing.

Akaashi flips the chess board with a “whoops, ohno”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kay you can basically see me throwing out all these possible spin offs like Kenhina, Bokuaka and Iwaoi ;) and you know i'm gonna write them even though no one asked. 
> 
> So there’ll be one more chapter after this and it’ll probably be way shorter since its the ending. Also, I hope people are picking up on my really obvious foreshadowing~
> 
> Anyways, toodles...I mean goodbye. Yep. Goodbye *salutes* 
> 
> God i'm awkward


	3. Chapter 3 - Puke Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Yule ball is litty titty

“Woah, this is super gay” Bokuto whispered.

“Yea, it feels like I’m watching porn right now” Hanamaki nodded with agreement.

Kuroo, Hanamaki, Matsukawa, and Bokuto were all hiding behind the large bushes a small distance away from the Gazebo. It was enough to watch Kenma and Hinata, but not overhear them. That might be intruding too much on their personal space. Although...this didn’t seem any better, watching them from afar.

Hinata was pacing the gazebo as Kenma stood there, hands clasped in front of himself with a soft smile. Hinata stopped walking and turned to look at Kenma, cheeks red, eyes blinking rapidly. He scratched the back of his head, eyes scattering to look at the gazebos floorboards.

“This is so cute I might die from hyperglycemia” Kuroo mumbled.

“I wish I brought a camera” Matsukawa whispered, eyes peeking a little more around the shrubbery for a better look.

Kuroo watched as Bokuto smoothed his finger over the fake handlebar mustache adorning his lips as one side threatened to peel off. Kuroo’s own black fake mustache hung above his lip. Hanamaki and Matsukawa had matching goatees and twirled mustaches.

“Hey, is mine lopsided?” Bokuto asked, turning to Kuroo and pointing at his black mustache. It was thick, grey, and hung down his chin.

“Dude, perfection” Kuroo kissed the tips of his fingers in a chef's kiss. “But keep it down, they’ll hear you”.

“Who invited you?” Hanamaki cocked an eyebrow at Bokuto. Because really, he was the loudest in the group and the most likely to blow their not very well planned cover.

Bokuto only stuck his tongue out in defiance, pulling his bottom eyelid with a finger.

“Wait, what’s the point of disguises if we’re just going to hide anyway?” Kuroo hissed at Hanamaki.

“Don’t ask me, this wasn’t my idea” he rolled his eyes, thumbing over at Matsukawa, who merely winked.

“Kenma is gonna know it’s us if he sees us” Kuroo shakes his head.

“Here” Matsukawa reached into his robes, pulling out a pair of dangle earrings. They looked like two large coins and definitely were previously bought as a prop gag sometime.

“Ah, it’s like I'm a whole new person” Kuroo clipped them onto his ears.

From the sides of the shrubs they were behind, they saw how Hinata had now taken Kenmas hands into his own and was looking to speak very excitedly.

“Gayyy” Matsukawa drawled.

“Hey, it's okay if they say no homo” Hanamaki stroked a hand down his goatee a few times.

“That doesn't look like it's gonna happen” Kuroo shuffled around, repositioning his crouch.

“Well, are they both wearing socks?” Bokuto asked, tilting his head.

“Oh my god, no, they aren't!” Hanamaki stage whispered.

“I feel like a mother watching my child grow up,” Matsukawa fake sniffed.

“I feel like a mother watching my child get it on with another child” Kuroo grimaced.

“Dude”.

“Ew”.

“Yea, it’s not great,” Kuroo admitted. 

But it was kind of true. Kenma and he had been and still were, neighbors back at their houses when they were not attending Hogwarts. He had grown up with him and through all of that time, he had never seen Kenma act like this before.

It was heartwarming as well as heartbreaking. 

“Oh my god, Kuroo, are you on the verge of tears?” Bokuto poked his cheek, and Kuroo slapped away his hand, peeved.

“No, it’s just the sun,” Kuroo argued, wiping at his glossed over eyes.

But then Hinata was moving again, and their eyes all snapped to his movements. Hinata sat on the seat edging the inside of the gazebo. He looked a little dismal, shoulders hunched inwards as he spoke.

But then Kenma was stepping forward, and they all held their breath in intense anticipation. He stood directly in front of Hinata and spoke softly voice calm. And then Hinata's head was lifting to look at him. His face looked crestfallen.

Kenma reached down and cupped his face in both of his hands, and then planted a kiss on his lips. 

“Yes!”.

“Oh my god!”.

They all exchanged silent hand fives and cheers from behind the shrubbery, silently screaming through wide smiles and ridiculous victory dance moves.

Hinata looked to be in shock with slight hesitation, but then he was smiling so bright. He jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around Kenma, attempting to pick him up and twirl him around a few times as Kenma softly smiled.

“Well that was fun on a bun” Kuroo grinned.

“Lunch?” Hanamaki asked.

“What? I wanna go congratulate them!” Bokuto whined, shifting his feet and looking as if he wanted to stand up and hurtle towards them with arms wide open.

“No way, Kenma would kill us,” Kuroo argued. “This was way bigger than I expected”.

“Man if I had a dollar for every time someone told me that” Hanamaki winked.

“He could afford a cheap hat,” Matsukawa interrupted. Hanamaki let out a mock gasp and then turned to slap him in the chest with the back of his hand.

Hinata and Kenma were now leaning on the balcony, looking out over the valley below. It was a sunny day and light shone over the landscape, bathing it in the warm rays. Kuroo could see their hands clasped together down by their sides, and his heart positively hummed for them.

“Come on, let’s get out of here” Kuroo pointed towards the school, and they all agreed. The group shuffled to their feet and hurriedly setting off towards the castle, bypassing the greenhouses.

Kuroo turned to get one more look over his shoulder, and he found Kenmas head tilted towards him. Kuroo gulped and gave a small, guilty wave. Kenma rolled his eyes and then turned his head away again.

Somehow that felt like a gesture of acceptance. Kuroo couldn't help but smile, turning on his heel to catch up with the others. 

“Okay boys, let’s talk bets,” Hanamaki rubbed his hands together as they all walked through the hallways. 

Kuroo and Bokuto groaned simultaneously. Bokuto even attempted to fall to his knees, but was hoisted up by Hanamaki and Matsukawa by each arm and pulled towards the entrance of the grassy courtyard.

“Okay, so!” Hanamaki announced, pushing them both to sit down on the edge of the fountain. Kuroo attentively perched on the edge, careful not to get his robes wet.

“Bokuto, you bet that they would get together the day we actually made up the bet” Hanamaki waggled a finger.

“Stupid decision really” Bokuto shrugged, mournfully. 

“Yea” Kuroo patted his shoulder. “It was”.

“So I’m guessing you've already found out Akaashi’s least favorite color?” Matsukawa waggled his eyebrows.

“Green…puke green” Bokuto slumped over, elbows into his lap.

“Brilliant, Kuroo you’ll do the honors on the night” Hanamaki grinned, turning to face him.

“I wouldn’t miss the chance” Kuroo grinned back, wickedly. He already had a certain mossy green color in mind. Hint, it may or not resemble the algae in the lake. 

“Great, because now we’re getting onto your punishment” Hanamaki finger gunned him, and Kuroos' smile fell from his face in an instant.

“That’s right, we didn’t forget about you, buttercup,” Matsukawa shook his head disapprovingly. “You bet that they would confess on the night of the ball”.

“Like a romantic in the moment thing. Come on, it totally could have happened!” Kuroo waved his hands around, exasperated.

“How did you two end up being right anyway?” Bokuto lifted his head back up, eyebrows drawn with suspicion.

“Yea, what the hell” Kuroo added on, staring at them with a skeptical expression.

“We may have-” Hanamaki turned to look at Matsukawa and then back to them. 

“Given Hinata, a little pushy push” Matsukawa finished.

“Words of encouragement and bravery” Hanamaki thumped twice - thud thud - on his chest.

“That’s cheating, you bastards!” Bokuto argued.

“Wow, very accusing words for someone who looks like my toothbrush” Hanamaki pushed out his lips in a false pout as if hurt by his words.

“There were no rules saying we couldn't interact with the contenders of our bet” Matsukawa shrugged, fluidly.

“You made the rules though...oh my god” Kuroo sighed and he scrubbed a hand over his face. With a rip, his mustache fell from his face to the ground. Oh right, he forgot he had it on.

“Anyways, prepare thyself for the ball and ask Tsukki for a danceee” Hanamaki giggled from behind his hands. And they turned on their heels and walked off and back across the courtyard.

Evil bastards, Kuroo thought as he smoothed the mustache back over his lip. 

“Do you think I'll get a date if I ask someone to the ball with this?” Kuroo swung his head to show Bokuto his mustache, the ends of it flapping with the swing. He waggled his eyebrows in a Matsukawa way.

“Dude. Hot. Sexy. Grow facial hair for real” Bokuto nodded. He winced as he pulled off his own mustache, some of the stick still remaining to it. 

Kuroo sighed, heavily. 

Tomorrow night was the ball, and trust him when he says he had left it way too late. He knew of no one who wasn't already going with someone yet. Something that Akaashi had once again belittled him about because he had two full days to try to find someone after their previous talk in the courtyard.

The previous conversation where Tsukki ended up leaving after saying he might already have a date….but who? Did he end up saying yes to that girl in the great hall?

His gut churned at the thought and a crest of hot jealousy rolled through him. He didn't want it to manifest into obsession over the topic of who it was, but it seemed to be turning out that way. That might freak Tsukishima out, and their friendship was really good right now.

“I’m gonna go find Akaashi and see if he wants to steal food from the kitchen” Bokuto lifted himself from the wall of the fountain with a hft. 

“Wanna come?” he asked, looking down at Kuroo.

“Raiding the kitchen? Nah, not this time. But remember to think of me” Kuroo grinned.

“I don’t think I wanna think of you when Akaashi and I are making out bro. But if that’s what you want-” Bokuto started.

“Wh- No! So you’re not raiding the kitchen?” Kuroo cocked a brow.

“Well no…” Bokuto scratched the back of his neck.

“Agh, get out of here” Kuroo kicked a leg at him and Bokuto yelped, chuckling when he missed.

“May the force be with you” Bokuto shouted cunningly over his shoulder as he walked off.

Kuroo watched him disappear before reaching his hands up and taking off one of the fake gold earrings, placing it in his lap. He reached for the other one.

“Oh no, please do leave them” a familiar voice called from behind him. Kuroo’s hands dropped and his head swiveled to see Tsukishima approaching.

“Oh well if it isn't my stalker” Kuroo gave a lopsided smile.

“That’s my line,” Tsukki corrected, rounding the fountain to sit by him.

“You approached me” Kuroo pointed out, sniggering when Tsukishima clicked his tongue. 

“You look like a man who counts the mountain of gold he sits on all day” Tsukishima smirked, eyes fluttering from his long mustache to the earrings Kuroo was shoving in the pocket of his robes.

“Ooh, you mean like a dragon?” Kuroo asked.

“Of course you’d turn this into something about dragons” Tsukishima tutted.

“If I were a dragon, you’d be the only treasure I’d wanna protect, baby” Kuroo winked.

Tsukishima blinked once before reaching out and ripping the mustache from Kuroo’s upper lip. Kuroo let out a yelp as it tragically fell to the ground once again.

“Goodbye old friend” Kuroo bent over and saluted.

“Odd,” Tsukishima noted.

“I try,” Kuroo shrugged, leaning back to sit straight again.

“No not you. Or well, yes, you. But it’s odd. Your face” Tsukishima's eyebrows pinched inwards, confused.

“This is starting to cross the line into bullying, Tsukki” Kuroo stared at him, pointedly.

“You look sad,” the blonde stated. 

Kuroo blinked owlishly a few times.

“What…?” he asked. 

“I don’t know” Tsukishima shrugged and he repositioned himself so he could sit more to the side. He dipped his fingers into the chilly water of the fountain.

“You can't just say that and not explain” Kuroo huffed, watching the way Tsukishima's fingers traced little circles of ripples through the water.

“Why don’t you explain to me what you were thinking of before I came over?” Tsukishima raised his eyebrows at him.

“Oh” Kuroo could answer that easily. “The ball”.

“If Bokuto were here he would say that’s a little gay to be thinking of someone's balls” Tsukishima sniffed.

“But he’s not here,” Kuroo smirked. “Guess we’re really rubbing off on you, hmm?”.

“It’s not always bad” Tsukishima smiled softly at him. 

And oh god Kuroos heart! Man down. Man down! 

“But no, seriously, what are you gonna do for the ball?” Tsukishima blinked in question, and Kuroo groaned, throwing his face into his hands.

“Why is everyone asking me that!” Kuroo whined.

“I thought it was a question that needed to be asked since you're acting like this” Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow, lips twitched into an interested smirk.

“Henry VII found four more women to marry him after he cut his wife’s head off, and I can't even get a date” Kuroo sighed, hands falling away from his face. 

“I’m going to be the only one in our friend group coming without a date” he muttered.

“Kenma” Tsukishima pointed out.

‘Nah, Hinata asked him out this morning. It was a whole event” Kuroo smiled, eyes catching the mustache still on the ground.

“Must have missed it on my calendar,” Tsukishima noted. “Well, what about Hanamaki and Matsukawa?”.

“What about them?” Kuroo tilted his head back to look at the blonde. 

“I’ve never really asked, but they are dating, aren't they?” Tsukishima squinted as if trying to search his brain for any preluding evidence.

“Well,” Kuroo started. “Matsukawa said Hanamaki was cute and Hanamaki said that if he didn't say no homo in three seconds then he would have to take him out. Let’s just say three seconds passed”.

“Oh my god, that’s so them” Tsukishima chuckled.

“Yea” Kuroo smiled lightly, and then he was gulping down his nerves. Cause it was now or never, just do it. 

“What about you? You gonna upstage me with that possible date you mentioned?” Kuroo asked. His mouth immediately fell dry, heart pounding at a faster rate in his chest.

Tsukishima was never one to offer information without prompting. And although Kuroo liked to prod, pinch, and get involved with everything, it didn’t apply to this time. He really didn’t want to know. It would only confirm that it was evidently going to happen and Kuroo could do nothing to stop it. 

Yet, he had asked, and he knew the answer was going to bite hard. 

“I, uhm” Tsukishima's hand paused from where it was drawing figure eights in the fountain. “Yea, I did get asked. I haven’t accepted yet though” his eyes raised to meet Kuroos.

And somehow that answer was worse than any of the possibilities Kuroo had considered.

“What, why? Are you holding out for something” Kuroo tilted his head? He could almost taste his thoughts running rampant through his head. Please say yes, he thought.

Tsukishima and he held a brief moment of eye contact, lingering with something unspoken. But Kuroo didn't know what. But then Tsukishima's eyes were drifting away again.

“I suppose...not” Tsukishima mumbled. 

“Hmm, why? Are you not satisfied with them?” Kuroo asked. He didn’t know why he was still clinging onto the last drop of hope. 

“Well, I just don't know a lot about them. I hate people generally, but I like people individually” Tsukishima chuckled. “You know after I get to know them”.

“Right” Kuroo agreed. He knew how hard it had been at first to get the blonde to warm up to him. “Well hopefully I can just jab my thumbs into my eye sockets and get away with it” he shrugged.

‘Context, Kuroo. Context” the blonde looked concerned.

“Well they can’t make a blind man dance is all I'm saying” Kuroo raised his two hands in innocence.

Tsukishima broke into a grin and he huffed slightly, head turning away to repress his laughter. Kuroo counted that as ten wins. 

“Okay, I need to get going” the blonde shook his head.

“Eh, where are we going?” Kuroo grinned a toothy smile. He leaned forward and picked his mustache from off the grass. Tsukishima gave a disapproving look at that. 

“Not we. You are going to go find a date, and I'm going to go ask my charms teacher why I didn’t get a higher grade on my last assessment” Tsukishima pushed himself from the fountain wall and to his feet.

“I don’t think I can stand by and let you get away with murder like that, Tsukki” Kuroo joked.

“I’m just going to ask!” Tsukishima huffed in defiance.

“No, you're going to unknowingly confront him with your 6’2 tall athletic teenager body and a threatening voice” Kuroo pointed out.

“Ugh, shut up, shut up” Tsukki clamped his hands over his ears, trying to block Kuroo out. Probably because he was speaking the truth.

“Just go find someone. We’ll meet later tonight at the library”.

“Ooh, we meet at the stroke of midnight in a secluded area” Kuroo waggled his eyebrows before his mouth dropped and he let out a mock gasp.

“Hold up, are you flirting with me right now?” Kuroo asked in a dramatized, surprised voice.

“No” Tsukishima deadpanned, hands dropping from his ears.

“Well, you should” Kuroo crossed his arms and turned his head to the side. “I’m an absolute delight, just to let you know. All my teachers tell me how charming I am all the time”.

“Well then go put that charm to good use then” Tsukishima rolled his eyes. 

“Tsukishima, how am I supposed to find someone?” Kuroos face fell into a pout, that maybe wasn’t so much of a pout. More of a defeated look. Tsukishima seemed to notice this, and his eyes softened.

“Kuroo, you’re like water” Tsukishima began.

“I hate water” Kuroo interrupted with a raised finger, which the blonde slapped back down.

“You’re like water. Water aids the cells in our body, water feeds the plants and prosperity grows. Water provides essentially a big part of what we need in life” Tsukishima said.

“Your point being?” Kuroo asked with a tilt of his head, seemingly confused.

“My point being that it’s good. So go find somebody else who is good. When you add water to water, it grows” Tsukishima stated.

“But-” Kuroo began, but there was no room left for him to reply as the blonde was already walking away. He watched him stroll across the yard and then disappear into the building.

But you're my water, Kuroo thought.

It was true. Kuroo hated water because it was so dangerous. But it was also so beautiful. It had the option to take life or give life.

When Kuroo had met Tsukishima, the blonde had given him a bit of life. But now it seemed as if he were being dragged down, the pressure and doubt dragging him down into the murky dark depths, forcing him to stay in a place he might end up staying forever.

…

Kuroo sighed, also standing up, about to head towards the common room. He had a bunch of work he had skipped over, worrying too hard about something as simple as who to dance with. 

But out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone. Someone who could maybe be of use.

Stopping in his tracks, he looked left, he looked right, and then he began to run towards them. On the way, he slapped his fake mustache back over his upper lip.

“Woah, hold it right there m’ lady” Kuroo jumped through the gap in the columns, coming to a stop in front of them.

“Four plus four is eight. But you plus me equals fate. Want to be my date?” Kuroo asked, slightly out of breath.

There was a moment of silence.

“Kuroo, no” Hana looked at him with a very nonplussed look.

“What? Is it the mustache?” Kuroo grinned, running his hand over it. 

“It's definite proof that you need to go see a doctor,” Hana raised an eyebrow, a smile crawling onto her face. And then she was sidestepping him and continuing to walk off.

“W-wait” Kuroo panicked, and he ripped the mustache off, throwing it to the side. He ran to catch up, jumping in front of her again.

“Hana, look, I know we don’t talk a lot” he tried again.

“Yea, you like to sit in the back of detention and I like to take the front” Hana rolled her eyes.  
“But you haven’t been there in a while. I wonder what changed that?” she asked slowly, eyes narrowing.

“Er yea. But look, I really need a date” he put his hands together in a pleading sign.

“Wh- aren’t you one of the first dancers!” Hana snorted, her smile growing wider.

“Yes,” Kuroo gritted his teeth.

“Then take someone who you actually like. Besides, I’m already going with someone” she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Hanaaa” Kuroo whined.

“Oh come on, I know you don’t actually want to go with me” she propped a hand on her hip.

“Wow, I can’t believe you have such a nice posterior for everyone else, and then you turn into a spitball for me and the teachers” Kuroo sniffed.

“Not a spitball, a fireball” Hana corrected, not exactly denying what he had said.

“Multiple personality disorder” Kuroo began to roll his eyes, but Hana leaned forward and pulled his hair.

“Hey!” he yelped.

“I’ll dance with you for the beginning part if you shut up and leave me alone” she scowled at him.

Kuroos mouth fell open, relief spreading throughout his body.

“Oh my god, yes, thank you! But, wait, why would you do that?” he asked, suddenly suspicious.

“It’s obviously just the part you need me for” Hana clicked her tongue. 

“Yea, but why are you helping me?” Kuroo asked, even more curious.

“Don’t look so incredulous! Don’t you remember this” she cleared her throat, and then put on a very weird expression on her face.

“I’m always this kind” Hana spoke stupidly, trying to recreate Kuroo’s voice.

“I do not say it that often!” Kuroo argued.

“You do, and it’s for a reason. You've always been nice to everyone...including me, even though I've been an absolute asshole sometimes” Hana looked away, slightly ashamed?

“Everyone has their bad days, their bad hours, or even seconds” Kuroo shrugged.

“See right there! You're too nice ugh. Stupid, Gryffindors speaking with their heart” Hana scrunched her nose.

Kuroo looked down to see the inside of her robes were colored blue. It made sense. She was too smart for her own good. Consequently, it’s what got her in her trouble, butting head with the teachers too much.

“So, you’ll go with me?” Kuroo asked, just to confirm.

“Yea I’ll go with you” Hana huffed. “Now go, I don’t wanna see you or that fake mustache again till tomorrow night” she waved her hand off.

“I’m going to come break into the Ravenclaw common room while you sleep and leave it lying on your pillow” Kuroo winked.

“That sounds absurdly creepy, and you don’t even know how to get in” Hana chuckled, and then she was walking off past him and down the halls.

“That’s what hammers are for,” he yelled after her. 

She merely stuck her hand in the air in a goodbye wave. Kuroo grinned, turning on his heel and making his way to the common room, this time with an air of success.

Finally, one problem solved. Now, what about all the other growing ones?

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

“Oh wow, this is better than I expected”.

“What, bro, really?”.

“No, you look like Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom on the second floor”.

“Which is?”

“Nasti”.

“Aghhh, Akaashi is gonna kill me” Bokuto whined. He stood in front of a full-length mirror adorning the wall of their dormitory. His hair was dyed a seaweed green, making him look like...well...an off-brand version of the Joker. Or a frog? There were too many references to make and honestly he didn't have time.

“Hey don’t be pessimistic, he might end up loving it” Kuroo pursed his lips, walking up to his side. 

“He chose this outfit for me. No, actually, he didn't choose it, he sewed both our outfits, and I'm going to let him down” Bokuto sighed, and he ran a hand through his gelled hair. 

“Well, do you at least like it?” Kuroo peered at him.

“Of course I love it! My hair’s green!” Bokuto exclaimed with a grin. “Although you could have made it a little more flattering with the choice of what type of green,” Bokuto turned to frown at him.

“What, but you look dashing!” Kuroo battered his eyelashes.

“I hate you”.

“Yet you would die for me, lmfao next”.

Bokuto rolled his eyes before walking off towards his bed where his jacket laid. Kuroo looked over his outfit. When he had Akaashi was a seamstress as a hobby, he had expected throw pillows with ‘Live Laugh and Love’ on them. Not something of such magnificent, top tier quality.

Bokuto was dressed in a pure silver, white suit, the shoulders padded to make them more broader. Intricate and detailed swirling sewing patterns traced down the lapels of the jacket. The undershirt was made of white ruffles and it was all topped off with a large bow around his neck.

Kuroo was at first going to make fun of the bow, because really how could that work as formal. But he wasn’t going to lie, it was growing on him. It would have looked brilliant if he had his original black and white hair. 

Now it just looked like a piece of salad on a very clean, pristine plate.

“Hey, what if you spill food on that?” Kuroo watched as he tried to tie the bow. “Actually no, when you spill food on that, because you are, what are you gonna do?” Kuroo smirked.

Bokuto narrowed his eyes down at the outfit, contemplating what he was wearing.

“I- shut up” Bokuto scrunched his nose at him, and then continued to tie the cloth.

Kuroo snickered and then turned back to the mirror. His own outfit still retained a sense of formality without it being a literal suit. 

It was a white dress shirt but with a deep cut that showed off his tan chest, ruffles embellished up the sides. In the middle of his pecs lay a chain attached to a silver dragon skull, long extended horns and sharp teeth digging into his skin. His sleeves lay large and poofy, pleated near the shoulders. Over the top of it lay a black simple waistcoat held by three buttons. His pants were a modest black with black shiny shoes, just to keep it easy.

He thought he looked very untraditional as well as keeping to the dress codes. At least they didn’t have to wear the old issued Hogwarts dress robes. He also heard that all the Durmstrang students had to wear the same red coat. He pitied them and their headmaster's fashion sense.

“Ready to go?”.

Kuroo spotted Bokuto behind him in the mirror. He turned to answer, mouth open. 

“I- uh”. 

Was he ready to go? He was so nervous. He had to dance in front of the whole school in only half an hour. Not to mention he almost forgot he had to witness seeing Tsukishima with someone...not him.

No matter how hard he told himself to stop thinking about it, the thought kept popping back up. Why did love have to be so complicated? And an even worse thought, was that he was doing it to himself. 

“Yea, I’m ready” Kuroo nodded.

He wasn’t ready.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

“Holy shit, Kuroo you look like a sexy dungeon master!” Hanamaki exclaimed.

“Maki stop trying to get people to play dungeons and dragons with you” Matsukawa sighed, standing next to him.

“Kuroo would love it! There’s little 3D dragons that blow fire and everything.

Kuroo laughed as he jumped the last steps of the large staircase, landing next to them where they had been waiting outside the great hall. Students brushed past, heading in through the large double doors where faint music drifted out from.

“That does sound pretty cool,” Kuroo agreed.

Hanamakis and Matsukawas suddenly catch Bokuto who approaches them and their smiles grow into smirks, eyes narrowed.

“Well hello, Prince Charming” Hanamaki teased, leaning against Matsuakwa with his elbow.

“You sure do look like the prince of something” Matsukawa tapped his chin in thought. “Perhaps a swamp? Shrek’s swamp dare I say?” Matsukawa gave a dramatic gasp, hand placed over his heart.

“Ugh....” Bokuto groaned, crossing his arms, eyes looking towards the floor. “Just leave me here to die. I don’t wanna face Akaashi like this”.

“No way. Mopey Bokuto doesn't work on us anymore. You gotta stick your punishment out like a MAN” Hanamaki pointed at him, accusingly.

Bokuto sniffed, looking away at something far away that definitely wasn't important, to ignore them. Kuroo was finally taking in the duo's outfits.

“You’re wearing plain black matching suits…” Kuroo’s eyebrows scrutinized Hanamaki’s and Matsukawa’s formal wear. 

“Are you judging us?” Hanamaki raised his eyebrows.

“What? No- I just thought” Kuroo weighed his hands in the air, staring hard at their outfits.

“Thought that they were boring,” Matsukawa finished.  
“Well...yea” Kuroo spoke, guiltily through a forced smile.

“Well you're completely right” Matsukawa grinned.

“One out of one, not doctors agree” Hanamaki also grinned.

Then Matsukawa was bringing his hand in the air, snapping his fingers. Immediately the black on their suits switched to a ridiculously bold neon color pattern.

“Ouhh!” Bokuto was suddenly reeled back from ignoring them.

“That’s more like you guys” Kuroo nodded, smiling a lopsided grin.

“But that’s not all” Hanamaki interjected before snapping his fingers again. Their suits abruptly changed from the new pattern to a galaxy one. Kuroo watched as they took turns snapping their fingers in the air, a new pattern every time. And amazingly, all the images on them were moving.

“Hot damn, someone call the fashion police” Kuroo stared wide-eyed at their suit patterns which were now blue ponds with large Koi fish swimming through the fabric. He watched, entranced as a large red and orange fish disappeared over Hanamaki's shoulder, appearing again a few seconds along with his pants. 

“That’s not the best part,” Matsukawa winked.

“What, does it also specialize as a jet pack?” Kuroo cocked an eyebrow.

“Ew, no. Lower your expectations” Hanamaki scrunched his nose and then clicked his fingers.

This time their suits were back to black, but tiny green marijuana leaves littered the dark fabric. Kuroo had to pinch his lips in order not to laugh, Bokuto unable to do the same as he snorted with laughter beside him.

“You guys are so gonna get caught,” Bokuto wheezed.

They both snapped their fingers in unison and their suits turned back to an expanse of plain black.

“I don't know what you mean” Hanamaki tilted his head, eyes eyeing up Matsukawas outfit and then doing the same to his own clothes.

“Takahiro, Issei!” A teacher's voice came from down the hall and the group swiveled their heads to see a miffed teacher making their way towards them.

“IT’S THE FUZZ” Hanamaki yelped.

“CHEESE IT” Matsukawa grabbed his elbow and they darted into the sea of students in the great hall. 

The teacher followed, heels clicking as she stomped and face fuming a dark red. Kuroo noticed it was their quidditch coach and he grinned thinking about how hard she was going to wring them out when she found them.

-If she could find them.

“Hey so why didn’t you get ready with Akaashi and all. Not that I'm complaining” Kuroo turned back to Bokuto, who was running his hands through his hair nervously again.

“Huh?” Bokuto asked. “Oh! Well, he said that Kenma Tsukishima and he were all going to get ready together and then surprise us!” Bokuto beamed.

“Surprise us? What are they…” Kuroos' words fell away, eyes catching two figures making their way down the stairs.

“Akaashi!” Bokuto gawped. 

“Kenma!” Kuroo gasped at the same time.

The two of them stopped on the top step. Kenma was looking extremely disgruntled, lips slightly downturned. Akaashi smiled softly at Bokuto, hands tucked neatly in front of him.

Kuroos mind was blown. They were wearing dresses!

Akaashi’s dress was black and short, pleated at the bottom. His shoulders lay broad with shoulder pads just the same as Bokuto’s own suit. Halfway down the sleeves it dropped off into a lace see-through material and dropped down from his forearm to his wrist. His nails were painted black along with it, tying the look together. Not to mention the elegant obsidian jewels falling from each ear.

Bokuto stepped forward and took Akaashi’s hands in his own. Together they looked like yin and yang, black and white outfits.

“Oh my god Keiji, you look...beautiful” Bokutos voice was full of astonishment and praise.

“Your hair is green,” Akaashi stated, flatly. His expression was neutral, but Kuroo saw an inkling in his eyes that portrayed something exasperated like he maybe wanted to scream. 

No. He definitely wanted to scream.

“Oh” Bokuto chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “You uh, you like it?” he asked.

“Your hair is green,” Akaashi repeated, this time slower.

Perhaps he was trying to convince himself to believe what stood in front of him. Kenma caught a snort in his hand as he watched the two. Kuroos' attention was now enraptured with the shorter boy.

He was wearing a blood-red dress that extended from his hips before falling to his feet. There were no straps, forming at the top with a heart cut. It gave an expanse of smooth pale shoulders that Kuroo admired.

“Kenma, you're wearing a dress!” Kuroo exclaimed, taking a step forward to the boy to admire more of the dress's details. There was a massive red bow tied around his waist, lying at his back.

“Well...kind of” Kenma muttered and he gripped the fabric, dragging it away to reveal there was a slit in the dress, and underneath it was a pair of red pants attached to the dress. The dress part could easily be stripped away or parted to see the leggings underneath. 

“I really wanna ask how you're going to go to the bathroom but-”.

‘But you won't,” Kenma lowered his eyebrows threateningly.

“But I won't,” Kuroo spoke quickly, lips pursing.

“Agh, Akaashi! What are you doing!” Bokuto belted out from beside them. Akaashi had extracted his wand from seemingly nowhere and was hitting Bokutos head with it repeatedly.

“Why won’t it turn back” Akaashi sighed heavily, shoulders dropping with disappointment.

“Ah sorry I cast a charm on it in case Bokuto tried to change it himself” Kuroo scratched the back of his neck. 

Akaashis eyes immediately darted to look at Kuroo, glaring. 

“Let me just” Kuroo coughed, stepping towards Bokuto. He pulled his wand from his pocket and waved it in the air. The green seemed to fall from his hair like a released floor gate, gaining its original white. 

Kuroo could easily say he’d never looked better. Akaashi also seemed to be in a state of relief right now. 

“Hey Kenma!” a voice called and Kuroo turned to see Hinata approach from inside the great hall. He was wearing a black suit but the undershirt was made of dazzling bright red swirls that matched his tie and the cloth flower tucked into his breast pocket.

“Shoyo” Kenma gave a small smile.

The redhead began to babble, bouncing on the spot with loud exclamations on how pretty Kenma was and then “Ohno is it alright to call you pretty. Do you want to be called that? Am I allowed?”.

“Hey, so, where’s Tsukishima?” Kuroo cleared his throat as Kenma and Hinata peeled away from the group to enter the hall, and his eyes flitted to ask Akaashi the question.

“Oh, he had a little trouble with his dress. I’m sure he should be down soon” Akaashi told him without looking away from where he was pulling and preening Bokuto's bow, who looked absolutely ecstatic to be under his approving attention again.

Kuroo looked towards the stairs like Akaashi's words would summon the blonde to appear, but it didn’t and he frowned. 

“Okay, were going to head in, are you okay out here?” Akaashi turned to ask him, tucking his wand down the V cut his dress, which Kuroo’s eyes followed with interest.

“Akaashi, where are you hiding that wand?” Kuroo asked with a teasing smirk.

“Oh my god, Akaashi you have cleavage!” Bokuto gasped, only just realizing. His line of sight at Akaashi's chest was not subtle, but subtlety was not one of the qualities Akaashi likes him for and he rolled his eyes with a grin. 

“Come on” Akaashi linked their arms and began to pull him towards the door. Bokuto only just manages to get a wave in over his shoulder at Kuroo and Kuroo gives a half-hearted smile back.

Luckily he has no time to relapse into his cloudy thoughts as a hand taps his shoulder from behind. Kuroos heart jumps in his chest and he swivels, ready to expect-

“What’s up hot stuff” Hana cocked a brow, hand resting on her hip. Her smile was gorgeous with painted lips and elegant makeup that complimented her outfit. 

Her dress was a creamy tinted brown slightly poofy long dress. It was held up with one strap that was completely made of pink, white, and pale blue flowers. These flowers extended down, filling out the top half of her dress and along her waist. The flowers fell away as it trailed down a part of her skirt which had a high slit rising all the way to her thigh.  
“Wow you look” Kuroo struggled to come up with the right words, trying to retain respectfulness as well as fill his duty of being a date. Hana seemed to see this.

“Amazing, beautiful, spectacular. All things you don't have to say. Leave that for my actual date to say” Hana winked, slapping him on the shoulder.

“Ah, thanks” Kuroo grinned, appreciatively.

“So, are we gonna head in now?” Hana cocked an eyebrow, her eyes following Kiyoko and Terushima who were walking past.

Ah right, Kiyoko was one of the first dancers along with the other champions. If he recalled, Kiyoko was dancing with Terushima, because apparently the two of them were weirdly friends. 

“Yea why don’t we…” Kuroos' words fell away for the millionth time that night as he caught somebody walking down the staircase.

Immediately his eyes blew wide, lips parting and the breath died in his lungs. Tsukishima was delicately walking down the stairs to accommodate the length of his dress...and oh my god his dress. 

It was pitch black, elegant in the way it hugged his body and followed behind him on the stairs. His blonde hair somehow stood out even brighter with the color along with his bright intense gaze. And from this angle, he could catch the sight of the back of the dress. Which was- very much not like the front.

It was backless and in the middle lay a gold snake decoration which extended from the nape of his neck all the way down to the cut of the dress, hef up by gold chains that were attached to the sides. 

A dress made perfectly for a Slytherin. No. A dress made perfectly for Tsukishima…

Tsukishima, halfway down the stairs, seemed to catch Kuroo’s eyes. Which he was sure had not blinked yet.

The blondes lips curled into a smile and Kuroo opened his mouth to tell him just how god damn beautiful he was when-

“Tsukishima” a low voice came from behind them. Kuroo watched as Tsukishima's eyes fell away from Kuroo and instead past him.

He swiveled to see a Durmstrang blood-red coat, embezzled with brown fur on the shoulder. Those very broad shoulders. The shoulders of...Ushijima Wakatoshi.  
Kuroo watched, helpless as Tsukishima stepped past him, eyes flashing his way before continuing on.

“Damn, you coulda looked at me like that” Hana joked, nudging his side playfully. But she was hesitant with it, aware of Kuroo’s eyes which still remained on Tsukishima's back further away.

“I-” he tried to reply to her, but his voice broke away, hoarse.

He observed the way Ushjiima took Tsukishima's hand in his own, pulling it gently into the air and placing a delicate kiss on his knuckles. He watched from behind as Tsukishima turned his head to look away, probably out of embarrassment.

And then Ushijima, staunch as ever, was straightening his back and offering his arm for the blonde to take. Tsukishima took it and together the two of them walked into the great hall, his dress flowing behind him. 

“Aha...well I can tell you're fuck” Hana clicked her tongue.

“Yea…” Kuroo muttered. “Real fucked”.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

When Kuroo and Hana stepped through the great hall's double doors, it was hard not to just stand and stare for a while. The whole place was decked out in blue and white. The arches of the roof were enveloped in white starry lights, icicles hung from the ceiling as well as crystallized ice sculptures decorating every table and every free corner. Three large pine trees stood towards the back, white snow clinging to the fur. 

The whole place was permeated with silver frosted and celeste blues of light that made the whole hall feel surreal, or something pictured from a winter holiday storybook. Not to be dorky, but, it looked like the interior of Elsa’s palace. Disney had it right, this is what magic could do.

“Kuroo, come on” Hana tugged at his hand, pulling him away from being entranced by shimmery blue dragonflies hovering and darting over a few tables.

“Hello MTV and welcome to my fridge” Kuroo mumbled under his breath as Hana dragged him through the crowd.

“So, when exactly are we dancing?” Hana drops his hand and Kuroo realizes they're near the front where the orchestra looks like it’s charged with energy, instruments rearing to go. 

“The champions and their partners start dancing first, then it's you, me and the prefects. Then teachers and...then I guess other students join in at whatever time they want” Kuro shrugs a shoulder.

“Oh thank god we’re not dancing immediately first” Hana huffed a sigh, placing a hand over her chest.

‘Of course not. Let he who is without sin throw the first stone” Kuroo smirked.

“And what does that mean, Shakespeare?” she snorted.

“It’s pronounced Shakesqueer” Kuroo pointed a finger at her. “And it means that if we were to dance first, we would surely outshine them all, so it would be better that they made their appearance first” Kuroo winked.

“I think I know where you're coming from, but don’t quote if you can’t apply the sayings properly” Hana rolled her eyes, a wide grin spread across her face.

Kuroo knitted his brows and opened his mouth, ready to argue back, playfully. But he was cut off upon seeing that the great hall’s doors fly open.

Kuroo asked himself why they had closed the doors just to open them again, cause come on that was funny and surely for dramatization, but instead, he tried to focus on the newcomers.  
The teachers stepped through the doors first, making their way up to the front. The crowd peeled off to the sides with their arrival, clearing a walkway. Following the teachers behind, Kuroo saw people flake off from the crowd near where the doors had opened, and soon realized it was the champions.

Kiyoko was first, long strides carrying her and her flowing dress to the front of the room, Terushima by her side, a duplicitous grin showing on his face as his eyes took in the expanse of the room.

Behind her came Oikawa and Iwaizumi. Both of them were dressed in traditional Hogwarts robes, tuxes with a white undershirt and white bow, long capes rolling down their backs. Apart from it wasn't classic when instead of black, their outfits were magnificent, midnight blue. Places on their outfits sparkled slightly, and Kuroo noticed it looked quite celestial, almost like the night sky. Both of them looked incredible, backs straight as they made their way to the front.

And then...of course. How was he letting it get the best of him every time? Ushijima with Tsukishima. Looking stunning nonetheless in his black dress, gold chains swinging delicately with every graceful step. 

He tried to peel his eyes away, even when they had already made it to the front and into the clearing. But it only gave him a better view. The orchestra put hands to instruments and the music began to play. 

The three partners placed hands to waists and shoulders and set off dancing, waltzing. And when the music rose, Kuroo gritted his teeth to see Ushijima wrap his hands around Tsukishima's waist and lift him in a half-circle in the air.

He had to berate himself for feeling this way. The blonde wasn’t even his. He had no right to feel jealousy coil deep down in the pit of his stomach, but it did, and he couldn’t help it. He was only human after all.

After two minutes, which really felt like a lifetime while watching the blonde, Hana tapped his shoulder.

“Are you ready?” Hana looks up at him, crinkles her eyes into a slight smile. Behind her, their vice teacher gives a sturdy nod to him and a few others. 

Kuroo sees the few school prefects pare from the others, dancing out into the clearing with their respective partners. Along them is a disgruntled looking Kenma, while on the other hand, Hinata’s cheeks flush with excitement.

Kuroo inhales deeply and nods a little too vigorously.  
“Ready as I’ll ever be”.  
Hana tries to give him a more reassuring smile, and Kuroo wonders if he really looks so nervous that the smile was needed.

Kuroo feels decorticated as he walks into the circle of dancers, limbs feeling rigid. But then Hana takes his hands and looks into his eyes, gives a nod. They reach the middle of the floor, and Kuroo notices they are dancing before it even happens.

There’s a ton of eyes on them, and it makes him hot under the collar. But the movements become easier, his shoulders release tension and he becomes more languid. He even manages to dip Hana, smirking when she lets out a yelp, which transforms into bright, giggly, laughter as he pulls her back to her feet.

Moving around the room, they pass a few other couples and Kuroo chances a look at Tsukishima. He’s a bit of a distance away and a little harder to see when waltzing further in the opposite direction. Other couples begin to join in, dancing onto the floor and forming a barricade over his vision of the blonde.

That should be for the best anyway…

Ten minutes later, everyone’s dancing. There is no longer a formed circle for dancing, the whole hall filled with people jumping and throwing their arms everywhere. Formality and structure had been lost when the orchestra died down.

Kuroo takes Hana's hand and guides her to a table on the outer rim of the room.

“Well,” Hana panted, pushing her bangs away from her sweaty forehead. “Thanks for your time cowboy” she grinned.

“More like thankyou. Really I owe you one” Kuroo chuckled lowly, falling back onto a seat. He reaches for a drink, pulling the glass to his mouth. The content inside is freezing and bubbly.

But Hana doesn’t laugh back. Instead, her eyebrows scrunch and her mouth twists to the side.  
“So you’re really gonna mope about Tsukishima all night, huh?”.

Kuroo promptly sprays all the liquid from his mouth out into the air in front of him. Hana jumps back with a yelp.

“I’m not-” Kuroo coughs into his elbow, spluttering. “I’m not moping!?” he argues weakly.

“Uh-huh. Your eyes are basically a north facing magnet and Tsukishima's ass is a south magnet”.

“Magnets...” Kuroo raises his eyebrows at her.

“Y’know, because they attract and all” Hana waves her hands around.

“I don’t think you know what you’re talking about” Kuroo bites the inside of her cheek.

“I don’t think you know what you're talking about either. You like him, so what. Don’t be in denial about it to me, the very person who has watched you watch Tsukishima all night. You can still have a great night without him” Hana sighs.

From behind her, somebody walks up to her side. He has a brilliant cream tux on, brown hair flattened aside from two tufts that look like they won't stay down. Kazuma from the Beauxbatons school.

“Ah, you look beautiful!” he smiles, bright. He has a slight accent to his voice, enhancing his charm apparently, since Hana seems to swoon, a soft smile on her face. Her hand covers his where he has an arm around her waist.

She turns to look at Kuroo.  
“Don’t hold yourself back tonight” she nods at him, firmly.

“I won’t”. He tells Hana, but his tongue feels heavy and it’s getting hard to talk.

“Right, well, have a nice night”. She smiles at him one last time before walking off, hand in hand with Kazuma. 

Kuroo only has a moment to sip his drink and think about her words before Bokuto and Akaashi are approaching him.

“This night is already way too long” Akaashi slumps into the seat over from Kuroo’s, reaching for a glass. He cradles the stem of a flute, delicately with his fingers, nimble as always.

“It literally just started, Akaashi” Bokuto chuckled, hands on his hips.

“Agh” Akaashi wilts a little more and brings the glass to his lips. 

“I take it you're not a large dancer?” Kuroo waggles his eyebrows at him in question.

Bokuto takes a seat next to Akaashi, throwing an around his boyfriend’s shoulder.  
“He just doesn’t like wearing heels is all” he answers for him since Akaashi is very hastily drinking down his glass in one go.

“Why are you even wearing heels? Or a dress for that matter?” Kuroo tilts his head. “Not that you guys don't look totally rad” Kuroo is quick to add on.

“Rad. Thanks” Akaashi is curt, lowering his glass. Kuroo chuckles, scratching the back of his neck with guilt.

“We lost a bet to Hanamaki and Matsukawa. Somewhat the same with you guys. But the consequences were not nearly as dire as yours” Akaashi very purposely avoids looking at Bokuto.

“My hair wasn’t that bad, Akaashiiiii” Bokuto whines, placing his cheek in his hand.

“Anyways” Akaashi ignores him. “We’re allowed to change back after the first dance. So if you don’t mind-” he broke off, standing from his seat.

With a wave of his wand, the dress fell away, as if the material were being burned, and it drifted away into a fine grey smoke. It revealed a black suit, lace intricately placed like flowers around his sleeves and running down his coat front.

“Akaashi, you didn’t keep it on” a voice gasps, and Kuroo turns his head to see Hanamaki and Matsukawa making their way over.

“Booo” Matsukawa cupped his hands over his mouth.

Both of their suits were now neon pink, and blinding to look at.

“An agreement always has its ends” Akaashi mutters into his glass, sitting down once again. Bokuto’s arm immediately slides back around him, and Akaashi leans into the hold.

“Hey so, Kuroo” Hanamaki clicks his fingers. The two of them circle the table and sit on the other side. 

“Yea?” Kuroo asks.

“I overheard a conversation while dancing. Your name came up” Hanamaki grinned.

Kuroo slammed his glass down on the table, “I didn’t do it”.

“You didn’t dance so majestically with Hana that gaggles of girls giggled and talked about how dashing you looked?”.

“Okay, that might have been me” Kuroo smiles, coy, and fans his face with a hand. 

“Well, are you gonna take up any of their offers, if they ask?” Matsukawa asks, and his eyes dart over Kuroo’s head.

He turns to look over his shoulder and finds a group of girls all staring at him. When he catches their gazes, they all turn away, giggling. He can’t find it in his will to find it annoying right now.

“Nah, probably not” Kuroo turns back, and leisurely takes a sip from his glass

“WHAT THE FUCK?" Hanamaki’s brows furrowed and his bottom lip quivered, "WHY DO YOU HATE US SO MUCH?” he slammed his fist onto the table.

“This is an outrage” Matsukawa sniffs.

“Get the daily prophet on the line!” Hanamaki demands.

Kuroo glances over to Bokuto and Akaashi, who are speaking softly, hands laced together. Bokuto is smiling so wide. It looked like he wouldn't be able to wipe it off his face, even if he tried.

“I don’t think I wanna dance with a girl if there’s no chance for her,” Kuroo shrugs.

“That sounds cocky” Hanamaki scrunches his eyebrows in confusion.

“No, I- no-look’ Kuroo lifts his hands in innocence.

“Stop bothering, Kuroo” Akaashi interrupts. “He only wants to dance with someone he exclusively has feelings for. And that’s only directed at one person tonight”.

Kuroo flushes at these words but doesn’t deny it. He only tips the remainders of his glass into his mouth.

“Aw, Akaashi, is that the same for me?” Bokuto cooes. 

“Well, I guess I do love every single part of you” Akaashi scratches his cheek, unaware of the impact of his words on someone like Bokuto, who looks thoroughly taken back.

“Every part of me? Even in my nostrils?” Bokuto blinks.

The table immediately bursts into laughter, Kuroo cackling and Matsukawa and Hanamaki leaning on each other, crying.

Akaashi's cheeks have burst into scarlet red with embarrassment.  
“Well, I-”.

“Wait what about in between my toes? In my armpits” Bokuto counts them off on his fingers. “What about my eyeballs or-”.

“Stop, stop, stop” Akaashi places his hands over his ears, leaning over the table.

“Bokuto, I think I just fell in love with you! “Runaway with me” Hanamaki laughs.

“Sorry, I don’t think there’s a universe where I wouldn’t love Akaashi, bro,” Bokuto says the words in such honesty. Kuroo can see Akaashi turn even rosier from where he’s pretending to touch up his suit.

“Okay, then what about you Kuroo, need some wingmen?” Matsukawa turned to look back at Kuroo.

“Eh, for who?” Kuroo tried to play it off, laughing, hesitantly.

“Tsukishima!” Hanamaki throws his head back and groans.

“He’s here with someone else!” Kuroo points out, waving his hands around, exasperated

“But he’s the light of your life, your knight in shining armor!” Matsukawa exclaimed.

“The apple of your eye, your soulmate, the only person you would want to raise your sixty-nine babies with” Hanamaki reached over the table to shake Kuroo roughly by the shoulders.

“You're Loch ness monster! You're Barry Bee Benson!’ Hanamaki looked him directly in the eye.

“I don’t know how I feel about all of those words together” Kuroo leaned back in his grip, swatting at the hands either side of him.

“Bro, it’s kind of wild how you don’t realize Tsukishima likes you back” Bokuto rubs the side of his nose with the crook of his fingers.

“Bokuto!” Akaashi slapped him lightly on the bicep with the back of his hand.

“What!? It’s true” Bokuto argued, turning to look at Kuroo. “It is”.

“It’s not true. I mean...I thought maybe at one point it might be. But he ended up showing up with someone else tonight, didn’t he?” Kuroo sighed. Gosh, how many times had he sighed that night?

“Only because you didn’t ask him,” Hanamaki pointed out.

“Yea, I bet if you had asked him, he would have said yes. Don't forget you also came with someone else tonight. You can’t be mad at Tsukishima for coming with Quidditch World Cup guy” Matsukawa shrugged.

“Haha...does anyone have any alcohol” Kuroo spoke, weakly. A poor tactic of conversation change, really.

“Oh, yea here man” Bokuto reached into his tux and brought out a flask. 

“You just had that in there?” Akaashi quirks an eyebrow at him. Kuroo takes it from him, gratefully.

“I learned it from watching you dad” Bokuto acted out with a faux pout.

“Wait, Akaashi, dad?” Matsukawa smirked.

“Yea I thought Bokuto would be the daddy in the relationship for sure” Hanamaki snickered.

“And just like that, I’m leaving” Akaashi stood up from his chair. He brushed off his suit before turning on his heel.

“Wait, Akaashi, come back. Let’s dance!” Boktuo called out after him, and then he was also leaving, chasing after his boyfriend.

“Damn, wish I had someone to call me daddy” Kuroo joked, stirring his new drink.

“Then confess to Tsukishima,”Hanamaki said.

“Who asked you, Mother Fucker?”.

Hanamaki gasped, turning to Matsukawa.  
“Babe, why aren’t you defending me!?”.

“Cause I’m a bad boyfriend?” Matsukawa said it like it was obvious.

“Well I mean, you aren’t bad at everythinggg” Hanamaki waggled his eyebrows.

“Oh?” Matsukawa smirked, waggling his eyebrows also.

Kuroo turned to the side and fake gagged.  
“Wow, the gay is so thick in here I think Bert and Ernie just rose back from the dead”.

“Bert and Ernie?” Matsukawa asked.

“Yeah man, have you ever watched that show. Homosexual asss” Hanamaki nodded, seriously.

“I watched it growing up and I can blame one hundred percent of my gay success on that show” Kuroo grinned.

“What success?” Hanamaki asked.

“Hey!”.

“Okay, but why are Bert and Ernie dead” Matsukawa narrowed his eyes, confused.

“This is a ball. This is not ball talk” Kuroo slapped his hands together a few times.

“You're the one who brought it up” Hanamaki splayed his hands at him.

“Well yeah but that’s only because I'm trying to distract myself from the overwhelming feeling of never being enough for anyone, and I’ll probably die alone, duh” Kuroo spoke it like it was obvious. 

“Dude, I am hardcore worried for you right now” Hanamaki frowned.

“I know, I know” Kuroo placed his forehead in his hands.

“Are you gonna be alright tonight?” Matsukawa leaned over and patted his back.

“Yea, I ran into Suga earlier tonight and he told me to come hang out with him and a bunch of others if I get bored” Kuroo sighed.

“Assuming that we’re not going to be around?” Hanamaki asked.

“Are you?” Kuroo looked back up.

“No, actually we have a date with Terushima to go to, soooo” Matsukawa drawled.

“Both of you?” Kuroo cracked a smile.

“Package deal bitch. Plus he said he’d only say yes if it was both of us” Hanamaki winked.

“You're going to turn this whole school gay” Kuroo shook his head.

“That’s the ultimate plan, baby. Now come on, let’s get back out there” Matsukawa stood back up, pulling Hanamaki with him. They both snapped their fingers and immediately their suits formed into different things.

Hanamakis was a pastel pink with tiny cream puffs on it. Matsukawa's was a pastel purple, tiny unicorn’s dotting over it.

“Hot,” they both said in unison, eying each other up.

Kuroo scoffed something between a laugh and groan.

“Meet up with you again later, yea?” Hanamaki asked over his shoulder as his boyfriend dragged him away. 

Kuroo gave a nod, and then the two of them were gone, leaving him alone at the table once again. 

Okay...he could admit it. He had not been very positive. It was hard to do so. Everyone had just been reminding him of Tsukishima. He needed someone who would distract him. Maybe he should go look for Suga, Hinata, or Kenma? Maybe try to meet up with Bokuto and Akaashi again.

He looked out over the crowd and all the throngs of people passing, dancing, or just idly standing by chatting. But he couldn’t see anyone he recognized. All there was, was unknown people, bright sparkly lights and dripping ice sculptures.

Laughter, music, and chatter filled the air, and Kuroo found himself relaxing. He breathed in and out steadily, forcing himself to try to expel all the previous negativity of tonight, and out of his body.

But he immediately tensed up again when he felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to find a girl. 

“Uh, hi” the girl smiled, shyly. Her hair was pulled back in a brown bun, red glamorous dress accentuating her curves. 

“Hey, what can I do for you?” he smiled back, politely.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to dance, perhaps?” the girl asked, gaining a little more confidence.

Ah, Kuroo thought this might happen. Everyone from the table had left, giving the perfect opportunity to come up and ask without having onlookers and something to be embarrassed about if he said no.

Which he was going to say. He was going to say no.

“Yea, sure,” Kuroo said.

What the fuuuuuuuck.

“Oh! Cool, awesome, great! My name’s Mia” she fumbled to say.

“Well Mia, do you know how to do the chicken dance?” he asked, standing to his feet and leading her into the crowd.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

After a few songs of dancing, Kuroo excuses himself from the dance floor, leaving Mia plenty worn out. He ends up bumping into Suga, who in turn teases him, but not as much as poor Daichi. 

Suga looks like he’s caught a taste of whatever's in Bokuto's flask, because he’s soon hanging off Daichi's neck, trying to suck permanent bruises. Kuroo hurries off soon after that.

He ends up nearly tripping over Kenma who’s sitting underneath a table and playing a videogame on the Nintendo Switch Kuroo brought him two summers ago. He’s always wondered how Kenma always snuck it in his luggage and more importantly how it even works at the school But he’s never asked. He sits there, Kenma leaning his head on Kuroo’s shoulder as Kuroo points out hidden caves. That’s until Hinata finds them, two drinks in hand and exclaiming about how he was worried since he couldn't find him.

With more than a little effort, Hinata helps Kenma to his feet and says goodnight to Kuroo. They make their way out of the hall, most of Kenmas weight leaning on him. He’s dead on his feet and sleepy. Kuroo grins until they’re disappearing around the corner.

He goes to find himself something to eat because his stomach hasn't given him rest. He ends up finding Matsukawa piling desserts into Hanamakis arms. Terushima laughs off to the side, mouth full of cake. Kuroo steals a cream puff off the top, gets yelled explicitly at in swears as he runs off again.

While making his way across the dance floor, he ends up finding Bokuto dancing with Akaashi. Akaashi’s head is resting on his chest, eyes closed as the slow song makes them rock in their embrace. Kuroo smiles at how soft his best friend has become and decides to back off.

But before he can escape, Bokuto spots him, and just in time for a change of music. Bokuto ends up dragging him through a routine of ridiculous dance moves to way too tacky music. Akaashi is all snickers and snide remarks from the side until he’s being pulled into the mass as well.

It’s nearing the end of the night and they've met up back at their previous table. Ties are loose, Bokuto is slumped over the table nearly asleep as Akaashi strokes a hand through his hair. Hanamaki sits nearly in Matsukawas lap. And Kuroo. Kuroo hasn't thought about Tsukishima all night. In fact, he hasn't even seen Tsukishima all night.

He thinks about it now though. It was kind of weird. The blonde was still a friend to their group, why hadn’t he made an appearance.

“I think I’m going to throw up” Hanamaki groans, scrubbing a hand over his face.

“S’ cause you ate too many cream puffs” Matsukawa mumbled, yawning.

“Oh no, yep I’m definitely going to throw up” Hanamaki whined.

“Eh! Don’t do it all over me then” Matsukawa yelped, looking instantly more alert.

“Like you would be so lucky. Just take me to bed” Hanamaki sighed.

“Aye, aye captain” Matsukawa salutes before standing, Hanamaki cradled in his arms, bridal style.

“Ooh, are we going on our honeymoon” Hanamaki waggled his eyebrows.

“There are surely some honeymoon activities on the itinerary” Matsukawa winked down at him. Everyone at the table gives a collective groan.

“Jeez, I’m just joking” Matsukawa rolled his eyes.

“G’nite guys” Hanamaki waved at them with a grin, before they're walking off and towards the great hall's doors.

Kuroo takes a sip from his drink, fingers encircling the top of his glass as he dangles it in the air.  
It’s in the lull of the dance now. People are only just starting to really peel off. A series of slow songs have been on repeat for a while now, slowing down the pace of the night.

“Hey, hey, you know that feeling where you pet a dog and the owner says, wow, he never lets strangers do that” Bokuto mumbles from where his head is laid on the side, down on the table.

“Yea, I suppose” Kuroo frowns, confused.

“I feel like that right now. Just real happy” Bokuto hummed happily, eyes squeezing shut with a smile.

“I think you need to sleep soon” Akaashi chuckled from above him, fingers still carding through Bokuto’s locks - So much that the gel that once crested his hair, is now diminished, leaving the strands against his forehead.

“I think I’ll head off soon” Kuroo downs the rest of his drink, and he stretches his arms in the air, spine giving a few cracks.

“Ah, leaving so soon?” a voice comes from behind him. It’s soft and velvety, hitting the low tones of their voice. It makes Kuroo’s blood stop running.

He turns to find Tsukishima standing in front of him, now adorned in a black and gold suit. His blonde hair is tousled, posture a little more relaxed than what Kuroo had seen before. But his eyes, they still dance with liveliness and teasing. 

“Wow, you look stunning”. Is what Kuroo finally gets to say. The words he wanted to say before, finally out in the open.

“Hmm, not to bad yourself” Tsukishima grins, playfully, a hand perched on his hip.

“You know what would make this outfit better?” Kuroo asked, smile, coy.

“The answer is fishnets, isn’t it?-”.

“-Fishnets,” Kuroo says at the tail end of his sentence.

Tsukishima tries to look put out but his mouth tilting into a grin ruins the effect. Kuroo's heart has never beat harder, his skin feeling this hot before. He buzzes off the interaction, feeling more alive than he has all night. 

“Of course you’d say that. You and your bad fashion sense” Tsukishima falsely scoffs, looking Kuroo up and down.

“I thought you said I looked dashing” Kuroo gasps, placing a hand dramatically over his chest.

“You got that word by yourself” Tsukishima snorts.

“But I know that you know we're both thinking it,” Kuroo says, eyes sparkling behind a wide smile. 

Kuroo distantly wonders if he is flirting, but pushes the thought away. Because really he shouldn't be flirting with someone who he didn’t come with. Morals and everything...right?

“So where is the old ball and chain?” Kuroo breaks the atmosphere in turn for cocking a brow at the blonde.

The smile falls off Tsukishima's face in an instant, and Kuroo tries not to read into it too much.

“Ushijima? Last I saw he was getting drinks, but he got pulled into a conversation with a teacher” Tsukishima shrugged.

“Ah, sorry. I was just wondering since we haven't really seen you all night, y’know” Kuroo chuckled, hoping his tone came off more as playful rather than accusing.

“Well,” Tsukishima hummed. “I’m here now”.

Kuroo’s tongue becomes sandpaper, his eyelashes blink furiously. He mouths around the air for words, but they don’t come.

“Bokuto and I were going to have one last dance, do you two maybe care to join us”. Akaashi is the one that speaks up.

Tsukishima's and Kuroo’s eyes darted to him, surprised. Kuroo had become totally unaware that the two had still been there. But god was he thankful, because of what came next.

“That’d be nice” the blonde's lips curled into a slight smile, and his eyes darted back to Kuroo.

“Uh, yea-” he stands up a little too quickly. “That'd be no, um, great. Haha,” he scratches the back of his neck.

“Bokuto, would you like to dance one last song” Akaashi nudges his boyfriend on the table.

“With you?” Bokuto looks up at him, flashing his teeth in a wide grin. “Boy do I”.

Akaashi rolls his eyes, but he looks secretly pleased as Bokuto springs to his feet, all exhaustion wiped out, and the two of them head away to the dance floor.

It leaves the two of them in comfortable silence. Kuroo soon realizes that he has to initiate something for the two of them to actually get going.

“M’lady, would you like to dance with me this fine evening” Kuroo offered his hand out towards Tsukishima, who was looking to be holding off laughing with much effort.

“Well, when such a fine gentleman offers, how could I not?” Tsukishima took his hand, the other caressing his own cheek as he fake gushed.

“Don’t tease me” Kuroo bit back, playfully.

“What? No really, you’re dashing” Tsukishima smirked.

“Oh?” Kuroo smirked back.

“You're words of course,” Tsukishima shrugged a shoulder, nonchalantly.

“Of course” Kuroo repeated, and with Tsukishima's hand in his, he led them onto the dance floor. Pretending to not feel his heart beat out of his chest was going to be a task worthy of a great champion. 

Conveniently, the track of slow songs was still being played out over the hall. Many couples were swaying, some a little more detailed with their dancing and still waltzing.

Kuroo pulled the blonde into a small clearing near the middle of the pack. He then used their already entangled hands, repositioning them so that their hands were on waists and shoulders. 

When they began to gently sway was only just when Kuroo realized he still had a smile on his face. He battled to try to keep his expression neutral, but Tsukishima was standing only centimeters apart, also smiling.

“What, I don’t get any of your fancy moves from earlier in the evening,” Tsukishima teased.

“Ah, you were watching?” Kuroo cocked a brow, half interested and half playing along.

“Well so was half of the female population in this school” Tsukishima scoffs. Kuroo answers that by twirling Tsukishima out.

“Ignoring the obvious overreaction, someone sounds jealous” Kuroo pulled him a little closer as the blonde twirled back inwards.

“I’m very happy with the date I came with, thankyou” Tsukishima huffs a laugh, but Kuroo can immediately see through it.

“You had a nice time with him tonight?” Kuroo asks. And really this time it’s genuine interest. Pure genuine self-serving interest nonetheless.

“I-” Tsukishima hesitates around the words. “Really all he did before the ball was watch me study...he’s not all that talkative”.

“I thought you loved it when people were quiet. You certainly have no quarrels when telling me to shut up” Kuroo raised his eyebrows.

“That's because lasagna can not be a type of soup!” Tsukishima countered.

“Magic is real, why can’t that be” Kuroo inquired.

“Shutup” Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

“Ah! See how easy that came out” Kuroo boasted. 

“Mm, bragging rights to being told to shut up for being annoying, Extremely worthy of someone with your name” Tsukishima nodded to himself.

Suddenly something fell onto Kuroo’s cheek. Something cold, and wet. He looked up at the ceiling and realized that snowflakes were falling over the crowd. How convenient. 

“Oh come on, I'm not that bad,” Kuroo looked back at him, falsely pouting.

“No...I guess you're not” Tsukishima sighed into a small smile. A few snowflakes fell into the blondes hair, decorating the locks of hair in a shimmery white glow.

“Not what, Tsukki. I wanna hear you say it” Kuroo grins, daringly, face moving a little closer.

“I guess you're not the utterly worst person I've ever met in my life” the blonde's eyes crinkled at the side with his own smile. And wait, was Tsukishima also leaning forward a little more inwards, just a little more closely. The arms hanging around Kuroo's neck seemed to shift forward a little.

“What if not worse then?” Kuroo's eyelids were half-lowered.

“Do you always fish for compliments?” Tsuksihima chuckled.

“Only from you” Kuroo batted his eyelashes. 

“And what’s so different about me?” Tsukishima asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Everything. Everything is different about you. Because you’re amazing. You're sweet, you're witty, you banter with me like there’s no one else in the room. Your aspirations are so high that you're someone I admire. But you look at me in the exact same way and it makes my heart melt. I want you to be mine.

“Would you like to find out?” Kuroo asked in a whisper. 

Tsukishima's eyes seemed to grow wider at this comment, and only then did Kuroo realize just how close they were, faces only centimeters apart. So close that if he were to step forward, tilt his head slightly, claim those soft pouty lips with his own mouth in a tender kiss. 

The snowflakes should feel cold, melting on his skin, but all he feels is warm. So warm that it almost hurts, burning deep inside of him. An overwhelming feeling enveloping his chest and squeezing tight.

It was only a second decision….but then the song they were dancing to faded off. 

The atmosphere broke, and Tsukishima pulled away, inhaling a shaky breath as he turned his head to the side. Anything to break the intense eye contact they had been sharing.

Kuroo had missed his opportunity, and a new song started up. The arms around his neck fell away, sliding down his shoulder and away from him as Tsukishima took a step back. He missed the warmth already, a feeling of disappointment taking place in his chest.

“Hey, are you guys ready to go?”. Suddenly Bokuto and Akaashi were approaching, hands entwined down by their sides as they walked over.

“Uh, yea” Kuroo laughed, nervously.

“Why are you both so red?” Bokuto tilted his head.

Tsukishimas and Kuroo’s backs immediately snapped straight, faces blazing red. 

“I have to go say goodnight to Ushijima, I’ll meet you all at the door” Tsukishima gave a curt nod before spinning on his heel and setting off hurriedly. 

Kuroo was left standing, unable to string the words from his mouth as Bokuto and Akaashi both looked at him, expectedly.

Kuroo gave a large exhale before shaking his head side to side. Akaashi also sighed heavily, and Bokuto's shoulders fell, posture wilting, dejectedly.

Akaashi leaned over and patted Kuroo's shoulder, reassuringly.  
“Let’s head out,” he said.

Kuroo nodded in return.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

Bokuto is sitting on the stairs and Akaashi is leaning tiredly against the banister outside the great hall, Kuroo pacing back and forth when suddenly Tsukishima rounds the corner.

“Hey, want to play twenty questions?” he asked.

“Wh- Okay?” Kuroo asked.

“Okay, my turn. Guess who wants to go the fuck to bed?” Tsukishima raised a hand.

“Wow, didn’t even ease into it” Kuroo chuckled.

“Yesssssss. I want to sleep until Christmas” Bokuto drawled, pushing himself off the stairs.

“Christmas is tomorrow, so you’d only have one night of sleep” Kuroo chuckled as they all made their way up the stairs.

“Mm, no it’s past midnight. So it’s Christmas right now, actually” Akaashi noted, tapping his lip.

“Wait, seriously?” Kuroo asked, pausing at the top of a staircase.

“I believe so, yes” Akaashi nodded.

“Holy shit, merry Christmas!” Bokuto hooted, throwing his arms in the air before enveloping Kuroo in a large hug.

Tsukishima sniggers beside him as Kuroo is squashed by his strength, struggling to breathe.

“Merry Christmas, Bo” Kuroo wheezed, pulling himself away with a smile.  
“I can’t believe I nearly had to see Bokuto with green hair on Christmas day” Akaashi sighed, shaking his head side to side.

“Aw, would you prefer if it were red and green?” Bokuto asked, side hugging Akaashi, way more gently than he had with Kuroo. Bastard.

“Wait, Bokuto had green hair?” Tsukishima let out a short burst of laughter.

“Ugh yeah, it looked amazing as well as awful” Kuroo admitted.

“Agreed” Akaashi confirms for him.

“It wasn’t that bad!” Bokuto argues.

“Why did he even have green hair in the first place” Tsukishima raises a hand over his mouth to cover his enormous grin.

“Hanamaki and Matsukawa made a bet with us about when Hinata and Kenma were going to get together” Bokuto rolled his eyes. “And obviously Kuroo and I both lost”.

“Only because they cheated,” Kuroo pointed out.

“Hense Bokuto’s once green hair” Akaashi huffed.

“Wait so then what was Kuroo’s punishment?” Tsukishima chuckled.

Kuroo immediately tensed, eyes widening in realization, in panic, but it was too late.

“Oh, I think it was that he had to dance with you at some point in the night,” Bokuto shrugged. Shrugged….like the words meant absolutely nothing.

It was suddenly as if all the air had been sucked away. The atmosphere was dead silent, tension thick and hovering over all of them.

Tsukishima slowly lowered his hand. He turned to look at Kuroo with wide eyes, lips parted slightly in surprise. 

“Your punishment was asking me to dance with you?...” his words were so silent, Kuroo wondered if he even heard them.

“Oh…” Bokuto suddenly realized what he had just said. Akaashi looked absolutely exasperated beside him.

“I think Bokuto and I ought to head off to bed now” Akaashi blinked a few times before slowly reaching for Bokuto's arm and pulling him up the stairs. Bokuto nodded, hesitant before also turning and following him up the staircase. He tossed one more look back over his shoulder at Kuroo. It was apologetic as he mouthed the words sorry.

But Kuroo wasn’t rendering anything else at the moment. As soon as the couple had disappeared, Tsukishima's frown turned into a scowl.

“So” Tsukishima began, folding his arms over his chest.

Kuroo sucked the insides of his teeth.  
“Okay so look, this isn’t what it seems”.

“Oh, it’s not? Cause what it seems like to me is that you lost a bet and poor old Kuroo had to go and ask Tsukishima for a dance. Because that - That is a punishment to you!” Tsukishima hissed.

“What, no!! Tsukki, don’t blow this out of proportion-” Kuroo tried to argue.

“Kuroo, when I first met you. I thought you were an asshole” Tsukishima huffed out an annoyed breath. His eyes were looking down at the floor as if he didn’t want to even look at Kuroo. It hurt.

But even more, Kuroo was pissed. He was more than pissed. Tsukishima was being totally unreasonable, and he was unwilling to hear Kuroo out.

“I thought you were an asshole, but you changed that perception. You were nice to me, kind even. Extremely kind, and funny and loving. But now…” his eyes raised to look Kuroo in the eye. “Now I think I’m starting to think I was right from the very start”.

“Oh, yea!? I’m an asshole? Well, you won't have to deal with the asshole anymore since I’m not gonna be here for the rest of the year anyway!” Kuroo ground out the words, gritting his teeth.

Suddenly all rage seeps out of Tsukishima's face in turn for confusion.

“Huh?” is all he says.

“....I have an apprenticeship. I got offered it after the first task, and I said yes” Kuroo sighed and carded a hand through his hair.

“Y-you didn’t tell me that” Tsukishima's voice was close to a whisper.

“Well, you don’t tell me things either” Kuroo was quick to snap back. Even though he didn't want to. He really didn't want to. He couldn't help it.

“What!?” the blonde's anger is back in an instant. “What haven't I told you about!?”.

“A week ago you got asked to the ball by some girl, right in front of me! And then you didn't even mention it, not once!” Kuroo hissed through his teeth. He couldn’t even wait to get started on Ushijima.

“That girl?” Tsukishima scoffs. “You’re such a hypocrite! I heard you tell Bokuto and Akaashi that plenty of girls had asked you out beforehand. Care to tell me why you didn’t tell me about those?”.  
Kuroo opens his mouth, but no words seem to be coming out.

“And for your information, that girl! She wasn’t asking me out! She was asking about you!” Tsukishima spat the words out.

“Huh? What was she asking about?” Kuroo asked, cocking a brow.

“Oh...my god” Tsukishima took a step back, arms unfolding. “Are you seriously curious about what she said in the middle of a fight”.

Kuroo suddenly realizes what it seems like, and it seems bad. Very bad.

“YOU. YOU CARE MORE ABOUT SOME GIRL OVER OUR FRIENDSHIP” Tsukishima yelled. “SHE WAS ASKING IF YOU HAD A DATE TO THE BALL, ALRIGHT”. Suddenly the blonde was storming off and past him up the staircase.

“W-wait Tsukki!” Kuroo immediately jumped to chase him.

“DO NOT FOLLOW ME, KUROO” Tsukishima whipped his head around to give one final glare. And he had never looked angrier, eyebrows furrowed, lips downturned in a scowl. But more importantly, his eyes looked sad...miserable. And Kuroo was the reason for that.

Kuroo stops on the staircase, watching as the blonde gives a large sigh and then walks off. He stands there until Tsukishima is completely out of sight.

Only then does his heart completely stop beating so loudly in his chest. Only then does he feel a sense of dread and regret sweep over him, drowning him and clogging his throat. His head feels so heavy, his feelings in disarray. 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Kuroo whispers the words, and they come out quiet and broken…

What had he done…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooooo....i'm posting this at 4am, so sorry if there's mistakes. Last chapter is next chapter :) Sorry for leaving it on an angsty note <3


	4. Chapter 4 - Our Melody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo is butthurt, but what's new. Tsukishima comes around, but only after a fearful incident that leaves him reeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song (Piano Duet Corpse Bride) is what's played at the piano scene. I suggest you listen to it either while reading the part or after reading it since my ability to write about music is piss poor pahahah :')
> 
> Heres the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7RqJlEikDQ

Kuroo couldn't take it anymore.

It was terrible.

The feelings in his chest. They weighed heavily in him at all times like a slowly sinking stone in a river. He wanted relief so bad, to be freed of these crushing emotions. Tsukishima was so important to him, and to have him this furious was terrible.

Since the ball, he had only seen the blonde in the mandatory attendance, such as breakfasts and dinners in the great hall.

It wasn't as if he hadn't tried to speak to him. It was just that whenever he went to go start a conversation, he would mysteriously disappear.

To where? He didn't know.

It was all he could think about, even when he tried to focus. Hense how he had nearly just been hit by the quaffle for the fifth time in the last hour.

Bokuto's voice pierced through his thoughts.

"Kuroo!".

Kuroo blinked away the haze in his eyes, looking back up. He was sitting upon his broom, meters above the grassy ground. The wind whistled by his ears and his red robes fluttered at his sides as Bokuto flew over to him, mounted on his own broom. His eyes were mixed with slight anger and confusion.

"When you said you'd help me practice, this was not what I was expecting" Bokuto crossed his arms over his chest.

Doing so, he nearly fell backward off his broom. Keyword being "nearly".

"Sorry man, I guess I was just a little distracted" Kuroo gave a weak smile.

"I've nearly killed you like 100 hundred times with the ball. I don't wanna drag your ass to the infirmary. You're heavier than you look" Bokuto raised his eyebrows at him.

"Pshh" Kuroo waved his hand dismissively. "Death is a social construct".

But Bokuto wasn't taking that as an answer and his eyes bore confusion.

"You haven't been paying attention for the whole week? Don't you have that Grindylow challenge to think about? It's coming up pretty soon".

"I don't know" Kuroo scrubbed a hand over his face.

"I haven't been able to focus on anything. I thought some Quidditch practice would've distracted me".

"Distracted you?" Bokuto questioned, and then his eyes widened, everything clicking into place.

"Oh, you mean with Tsu-".

"Don't say it" Kuroo cut him off.

Bokuto pursed his lips, eyes rolling up, a bubble of contemplation forming around him.

"Well...." Bokuto's eyes snapped back to him.

"If you're looking for something to do. Akaashi was going off to study the last time I saw him. Maybe you can join him?" he grinned, hopeful.

"Study? With Akaashi? I thought you said he beat you with a ruler last time you got three questions wrong in a row" Kuroo asked.

"Metaphorically. He metaphorically beat me" Bokuto whined.

"He turned and looked at me all like this!" Bokuto lowered his lids, giving Kuroo a very displeased look, that also seemed to convey exasperation.

"He does have that look that could probably pierce you through the heart, it's so intense" Kuroo nodded to himself.

"Right! But also his eyes are really pretty, so I don't blame him for getting his full use out of em" Bokuto chuckled.

"I'm starting to think you have a punishment kink" Kuroo narrowed his eyes.

"Well I mean you gotta turn what you know into a fun experience" Bokuto laughed, uproariously and Kuroo gave him a very nonplussed expression as a result.

Suddenly a heavy blast of wind coarse past them, ruffling his bedhead and sneaking through the layers of his clothes.

"Okay, I gotta get down from here. I'm freezing cold and-" he tapped the broom beneath him. "My ass hurts from being up here so long".

"Really? I could stay up for the whole day" Bokuto blinked.

"Well, that's because your ass is thicc. The opposite of my will to live, which is very thin" Kuroo shrugged.

"Dude thanks, but like also..." Bokutos eyes swarmed with sympathy, and Kuroo was starting to get a little weary of it.

"Right, study with Akaashi" Kuroo clicked his tongue.

"You gonna stay out here and practice alone?".

"Nah, I convinced Hinata and Kageyama to come out after they had finished their detention" Bokuto snickered to himself.

"Ah, we raised them so well. What'd they do this time?" Kuroo chuckled.

"Just trying to beat each other in races across the moving stairs before any of them can change direction. Daichi caught them" Bokuto laughed good-naturedly.

"Ah, our Gryffindor prefect" Kuroo nodded. "Y'know if I were a prefect, I'd totally let them get away with that".

"That's probably why you aren't a prefect," Bokuto snickered behind his palm, and Kuroo gasped.

"Wow, have fun freezing to death up here you bastard" Kuroo tried to frown but his mouth tilting into a grin ruined the full effect.

"See ya round" Bokuto called after him as he turned and started to head down to the ground.

Kuroo waved a hand behind him with his leave-taking.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

When Kuroo approaches the library, he's almost hesitant to step in. The memories of Tsukishima run too vivid in his head. Long nights of studying, pinching and teasing when reading an ingredient on Kuroo's own potion list wrong and just enjoying each other's company in harmony.

When he steps in under the archway entrance, he's half surprised not to find the blonde reaching for a book on the highest shelf, or curled up in a chair, knees to chest as he mumbles the words he reads to himself.

It kind of hurts.

But instead, he sees Akaashi seated at one of long tables towards the back, and he sucks in a deep inhale before making his way towards him. He grabs two quick books off the shelf as he passes. Kuroo pulls out a chair beside Akaashi and drops his books on the table with a resounding slap. Akaashi doesn't even flinch as he looks over to the books on the table and Kuroo slides into the parallel chair.

"How to charm your bath to clean itself and 101 tips on passing your N.E.W.Ts" Akaashi read the covers of the books.

His eyes flickered up to meet Kuroos.

"One of these is not like the others" Akaashi quipped, eyebrow cocking.

"You're right" Kuroo folded his arms.

"The other book can go. I just need to learn to goddamn scrub my bath, spit-polished clean" he shook his head with feigned disapprovement.

Meanwhile, Akaash was looking at him in real disapprovement.  
"So why are you here?" Akaashi rolled his eyes, flipping the page of one of the many books that lay around him in disorganized, stacked mountains.

"Er, studying. Like you. Duh," Kuroo scoffed.

And to prove it, he dragged the bath book towards himself and flipped to page 50. To make sure your bath does not bite your earlobe for a third time, you will have to cast the charm on a night where Jupiter is aligned with- wait what?

"Studying?" Akaashi repeated.

"Yep," Kuroo popped the P at the end.

"So you're not here to distract yourself from Tsukishima?" Akaashi blinked in question.

Kuroo nearly choked on his own saliva, reeling backward at how blunt it had been said.

Okay, play it dumb.

"Who's Tsukishima???" Kuroo asked.

Not that dumb, you idiot!

Akaashi's eyebrows raised till they were nearly in his hairline, and then he huffed a little laugh.  
"Kuroo I can't imagine what you're going through right now. It must be tough. But I'm studying for multiple different advanced courses right now" he paused.

"And I know you mean to distract yourself. But while doing that, you're going to distract me" Akaashi spoke, careful with how he said his words.

"No! I promise I'll be real quiet and everything" Kuroo argued.

"You're already being distracting".

Akaashi looked downwards and Kuroo followed his gaze to see his own knee bouncing, foot taps making a sound now and then. He hadn't even realized he was doing it. Now that he knew, he immediately put a stop to it.

"Just give me a chance, look I'll read" Kuroo reached for his book and picked it up.

"That's an A and H...an E? Maybe a potato or a coffee mug. That there is a smudge... or is it the number four?".

"Wow, I can't believe you were able to walk here with that eyesight," Akaashi remarked, amused. 

"But I'm still going to ask you to leave".

"Akaashi..." Kuroo's voice sounds utterly dejected and he hated that it did.

"I'm sorry Kuroo. Earlier today I studied with Bokuto. Which meant" Akaashi twisted his mouth to the side.

"Well, it meant that I wasn't studying at all but instead helping him while he tried to explain how he wasn't calling me babe as in short for baby. But rather beyb as in short for Beyblade".

Kuroo's lips pinched inwards to hold back a laugh. But it was quite hard, and a little, muffled noise made it through.

"Oh shut up" Akaashi sneered. "Get out before I murder you" he pointed at the door.

"I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory" Kuroo wiped a fake tear from his eye.

"I don't know what you're talking about but I'm going to set fire to the robes of the next person I see. Which is coincidentally...oh it's you" Akaashis eyes dropped down to the edge of the ravens' sleeves.

"Yea, yea, I get it" Kuroo huffed, standing.

Akaashi seemed to hesitate slightly, lips parting. And then he was sighing.  
"Okay look, no one likes what's going on right now" Akaashi licked over his bottom lip, and Kuroo turned to look at him, confused.

"So, I'll tell you where Tsukishima normally goes when he wants to be alone. And I mean alone alone" Akaashi added on.

Kuroo slowly slid back into the chair, eyes trained on his face.  
"You know that information?" he tilted his head, curious.

"Only because I've accidentally walked in on him before," Akaashi admitted, tapping the table below his hand. "And he won't like you being there. In fact, the thought that you know means he knows I told you".

"Oh yea, definitely sleep with one eye open at night from now on" Kuroo nodded.

"It's the room between Unicorn Magic and Scroll Writing. Just before the stairs leading up to the owlery. It's an old empty room, no one really uses anymore".

Kuroo delved back into his thoughts, retraced his memory. He didn't have many classes in that block, but he did remember visiting the owlery with Bokuto quite a lot. There had always been that doorway which Kuroo had lingered on. Had wondered about for a split second before racing Bokuto up the stairs in their animagus forms.

"I- thank you, Akaashi" Kuroo tried to convey thoughtfulness in his voice.

It seemed to work as Akaashi blinked in understanding.  
"Tread carefully," Akaashi warned.

"I will!" Kuroo smiled and scooped the books into his arms.

"Oh also while i'm confessing things" Akaashi looked up from his books just as Kuroo was about to leave. "Bokuto wants you to stop screaming sweet dreams slut at him when he says goodnight".

"Who's Bokuto?" Kuroo grinned, cheekily.

"Come on Kuroo, your best friend" Akaashi scoffed with the voice he usually only held for his boyfriend.

"Oh, you mean that slut?" Kuroo blinked, innocently.

Kuroo chuckled, dashing away when Akaashi picked up a book, looking as if to hurtle it at his head. He placed the books on the shelf as he walked to the exit and began to prepare himself.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

Kuroo felt a little mentally exhausted as he walked through the halls. His terrible brain had betrayed him and had ended up running through all the possible situations that could happen from running into the blonde.

The most positive being that he can regain Tsukishima's trust enough for them to start talking again. The most negative, maybe Tsukishima performs the imperius curse and throws Kuroo out the window.

It's when he spots the designated room ahead that he stops in his overwhelming thoughts. Because there was something ringing in the back of his head, something fluttering down the hallways and into his ears.

A piano?

He placed a foot ahead of him hesitant, and then another and another until he was at the open door. Slowly he peeked his head around the archway. The room was massive, light, and open. Multiple instruments littered the sides.

But in the middle of the magnificent room stood a large dark wood piano. It's exterior gleamed with a shine from the light coming through the massive windows located on the left side of the room. At that very piano sat Tsukishima, back bent but wrists propped up as his right hand played slowly, fingers pressing the keys to make a slight tune.

This was his chance. A moment in which the blonde wouldn't be able to escape. But he didn't want to think of it as him trying to force Tsukishima into talking to him... He would let him leave if he wished.

No following.

It was his own decision to weigh his options and be able to follow them. If Kuroo was the negative option to avoid right now, then there was not a lot he was going to do about that. Slowly he crept out from the halls and into the room, moving slowly. When he realized. He didn't really need to do so once the blonde would realize he was in the room.

He began to beeline for the piano. He could tell at the exact moment Tsukishima knew he was there because his back straightened and his head inclined slightly to look at Kuroo before stopping himself.

"Hi..." Kuroo spoke quietly as he stopped at the piano.

Tsukishima didn't give him a spare glance as his fingers shifted from key to key, playing the same tune. Kuroo sighed, leaning against the side of the piano as he looked out towards the door.

He could still leave? But that would be a coward move wouldn't it?

He pouted slightly and tucked his thumbs into his pockets.  
"I'm sorry..." he tried again, head swiveling to look at Tsukishima.

The blonde's face was neutral, if not with a slight downturn to his lips, a dent in the middle of his brow where he somewhat frowned.

"I'm sorry you thought I wasn't telling you anything" Kuroo continued, but a singular harsher press to a key proved that was the wrong answer.

"I'm sorry I wasn't telling you anything," Kuroo corrected immediately, and Tsukishima progressed to playing it's soft melody again.

"I was going to tell you" Kuroo delicately pushed himself from the piano, sliding onto the long bench -But careful as to stay on the end to not invite himself into Tsukishima's personal space so soon.

"I was going to tell you about the apprenticeship. I was. Just nothing really went according to plan you see and-".

Kuroo glanced at Tsukishima's face again. There was no hint that he was actually listening to Kuroos words, even though Kuroo was speaking directly to him. So Kuroo shut his mouth.He instead listened to the song Tsukishima was playing. A familiar tune if he recalled correctly.

His own father had been from a pureblood family, but his mother came from a muggle background. In her childhood, she had learned to play the piano, which of course was put on Kuroo when he was of age. He didn't particularly care for it although he could read sheet music and he could remember enough songs.

But Tsukishima also seemed to know how. He hadn't met a wizard so far who hadn't played an instrument without using music. Yet just another expectation the blonde was blowing away for Kuroo.

Tentatively, he raised his own hand to the keyboard, playing the same few keys of the song. Tsukishima cut off completely, freezing in his motions, and he cast an infuriated side glance at the ravens' head.

Kuroo paused, looking at the blonde. But the blonde only continued playing the song once knowing Kuroo had stopped his own playing.

Once Tsukishima's hands were back on the keys, Kuroo jumped to join in again with his own side of the piano. It was a shriller, higher key compared to the low notes on the side of the blonde's piano. Once finished, he looked towards the blonde again, hopeful.

Tsukishima's demeanor didn't change at first. But then his low brows slowly eased up, his eyes lighting up slightly. He lifted his second hand to the keys to play aside his other one, tapping out the tune.

Kuroo's heart thumped madly in his chest. Once he let the part fade away, Kuroo was ecstatic to place his hands to the keys and start up the faster part. Then his hands were moving. His fingers danced over the keys with a grace that looked impossible from someone famous for playing Quidditch.

A sweet and full melody, swelling higher and more rapidly from the instrument. His right hand feathered over the higher registers until it slowed, pounding a rhythmic harmony, losing it's sharp sounds and converting to a lower volume which rose and fell with the music's emotion.

And that's when Tsukishima seemed to snap. His eyes went wide and he fully turned his head to watch Kuroo -Watch as his body curved and he rocked with the motion of his hands up and down the length of the piano.

Tsukishima placed his hands back at the keys and jumped in with the duet version, his own keys tapping even faster rhythms, bringing an intense, vociferous side, but still smooth in its tune.

Kuroo's heart seemed to leap in his chest, a wonderful, bright feeling. He sucked in a breath, filling with giddy warmth over the realization that the composition was being played by both of them. The two of them played side by side, hands delicate in the way they were brought down.

It was as if they had played together before, so in tune with another. He lost himself in the music, to the point that his heart swelled with the sounds. He closed his eyes, allowing the sound to surround and consume him. Flicking his eyes back open, Kuroo couldn't help but let his mouth curl into a side smile and he glanced at Tsukishima.  
And the surprise was that Tsukishima glanced back, a giddy smile on his face. 

That was when the blonde hit the wrong key, too distracted from looking at Kuroo. His mouth fell open and his body flinched back as his hand slammed into a few wrong keys, disturbing the once unbroken melody of the song.

The room fell empty of sound, silence swallowing the air till it ran static in the room. There was a moment where Tsukishima just looked down at the piano, and where his hand lay on the wrong keys. Kuroo opened his mouth.

He wanted to tell him it was alright, or maybe they could start again. Even something like "Hey, I didn't know you played piano" would have been better than what he said next.

...

"Tsukishima why won't you talk to me?". His voice was strong and clear and echoed aroud the room. It was a little too demanding and the complete opposite of the soft encouraging tone he was going to go for.

The blondes' scowl suddenly returned to life, and he swiveled his head to look at him, eyes full of venom.  
"You-" Tsukishima started, but then snapped his mouth shut.

Kuroo could see him grit his teeth. It was almost as if he had vowed not to talk to Kuroo again. He hoped that wasn't the case. But then Kuroo had to pull away his hands in an instant before the piano lid was being dropped down over the top of the keys.

Tsukishima stood from his seat, turned on his heel, and sauntered away. He had never had to use that word before because he had never seen it happen. But Tsukishima was so quick to escape him with his long and fast strides across the room.

Kuroo's legs were ready to push himself up as he reached out a hand, voice ready to call out. But then he remembered that he promised himself he would let Tsukishima go if he felt like he couldn't be here with Kuroo. What he didn't expect was it to hurt twice as bad as he thought it was going to...

Suddenly the crushing weight was back in his heart, dragging him down, down, down.  
Drowning him.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

"Okay, you've got this Kuroo".

"I've got this".

"You can totally do this, you've been preparing for ages!".

"For ages!".

"So it doesn't matter how stupid water is, how it can drown you, kill you, or at worst you leave your crocs by the water's edge and the tide comes in and sweeps them away".

"Right".

"Right".

"Kuroo, are you talking to yourself?" Bokuto quirked an eyebrow. He was walking over to where the raven head stood on the bottom of the old stone stairs leading down to the rickety wooden docks.

"Yes, it's the only way I can have an intelligent conversation" Kuroo straightened his back from where his shoulders had curled in on him, hand to his chin with thought. His lips ticked into a grin at Bokuto's mock offended face, Akaashi looking unceasingly uninterested at his side.

"Okay, wow, I was gonna wish you good luck but I can't even take you seriously with these" Bokuto stepped forward. A finger dug in under the thick pair of goggles strapped over Kuroo's head and over his eyes. They snapped back on his forehead and Kuroo shot him an unamused look.

"Wow, I can't believe you're trying to roast me. You're like the weakest insulter in the group. A Magikarp in battle" Kuroo raised his hands to correct his goggles.

They were massive and round, taking up basically the top half of his face. His black fringe still somehow had the audacity to stick out over one eye.

"I didn't watch pokemon as a kid, so your words have no effect on me" Bokuto folded his arms, turning his chin up at Kuroo.

Kuroo turned towards Akaashi.

"Magikarp, right?" he pointed at Bokuto.

"Oh, most definitely" Akaashi nodded, and Bokuto pretended not to listen even harder.

"So, why are we just standing here. Isn't everyone nearly out there?" Bokuto was quick to change the conversation.

Kuroo placed a hand over his eyes, scouting the black waters of the lake in front of them. Students were heading out in their self-rowing boats. Out in the middle of the great lake were three massive, steel stands rising out of the water and they were packed to the bursting point, reflected in the lake below. Most of the school seemed to be out there.

"You guys go ahead," Kuroo sighed. He shook his head, colossal goggles following heavily with the movement.

"You know you're going to have to go out there eventually. You're supervising the Grindylows in case of a possible emergency situation" Akaashi frowned at him.

"I know. I wouldn't be wearing these babies if I didn't have to" Kuroo tapped the glass of his goggles with his fingernails, giving it a 'tink' 'tink'. 

They were engineered to help him see past the surface of the water, showing the dark under depths way better than any human's eyes could. Managing the grindylows behavior was no easy job. It was no easy job to look at them either. They were sickly green creatures with sharp little horns. Its fingers were fragile and spindly but strong, able to strangle their prey. They were good swimmers, adapted to live in the water with their elongated tentacles that lay underneath them.

"So, you coming?" Bokuto asked, stepping down into the boat off to the side of the boat dock.

"Hm. I've made my decision" Kuroo nodded. "I want to...start crying," he announced.

"Do that in the boat" Akaashi deadpanned and he stepped past Kuroo, following after Bokuto.

Kuroo looked out back over the length of the water. He could feel goosebumps immersing his arms just by looking at the icy waters. A cruel breeze lifted his hair and he shivered violently.

"Yea, yea, move over then. Ten tonnes of terrified making its way into the boat" Kuroo descended down into the boat with an 'oof'.

The vessel immediately pushed itself off from the dock with a lurch, and Kuroo grabbed onto the side, inadvertently. Of course, Akaashi snickered at that, and the boat pursed to the stands. Kuroo looked over the sides, watching the ores as they swallowed the water, propelling them along the lake.

"Be careful not to fall in. Wouldn't wanna be eaten by a Grindylow" Bokuto teased, tapping the canines of his own teeth.

"Hm, I wouldn't put it past them. They do occasionally eat humans" Kuroo shrugged. That shut Bokuto up, almost immediately.

"Don't tell Oikawa that" Akaashi tutted. "I swear I saw him looking as pale as a sheet".

"You mean my thighs in winter," Kuroo mumbled, and Bokuto snorted.

"Kuroo" Akaashi clicked his tongue, reprimanding.

"Fine. I won't tell him his vogue cover-worthy legs might get a lil nibble nibble if he stays down there too long" Kuroo rolled his eyes.

"Damn, I was actually looking forward to teasing him" Bokuto twisted his mouth to the side, pouting.

Kuroo was just about to reply when the boat bumped into something, sending Kuroo forward slightly. He looked up to find they had arrived in the middle of the three stands. They all clambered out of the boat and onto the landing.

Luckily this one seemed to be less packed. But he soon realized why. It was reserved for the judges, close friends, and champions. Already heads were turning to look at them.

"We should probably head up to the second level" Akaashi nudged Bokuto in the ribs and nodded upwards with a jerk of his head.

"Hmm, you gonna be okay alone, Kuroo?" Bokuto blinked at him, wide and worried.

"Pft yea, you crazy kids get outta here. Drop out and move to Greece for all I care" Kuroo waved his hand, dismissively.

"I have Daddy's permission to skip school?" Bokuto smirked.

"Only if you stop calling me Daddy" Kuroo grinned back.

"Never".

"Okay that's it, we're leaving" Akaashi grabbed Bokuto by the sleeve and hauled him away.

Bokuto gave a wave over his shoulder, which Kuroo returned. Then he was heading towards the rest of the authoritative looking group on the platform, more than a little shook up. He tried not to concentrate on the water surrounding every edge, swallowing up every direction he looked in.

"Ah, Kuroo".

He turned to see Kai walking up to him. This time a different large coat lay around his shoulders, a little thicker. Kuroo guessed for the cold.

The same scar fell deep and red over his collarbone. Kuroo tried not to marvel over it for too long, trying to guess which dragon would have made such a mark by the width of the claw mark.

Stupid Nerd, pay attention.

"Sir" Kuroo forced a wide grin across his face, folding his hands behind his back and straightening to try to seem taller.

"Ready for the task?" Kai chuckled with mirth, laying a hefty hand on his shoulder.

"You speak like I'm one of the champions participating," Kuroo remarked slyly.

"Well, there is a possible chance you might have to get in" Kai seemed to laugh after every comment, the sound booming.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that" Kuroo bit the inside of his cheek, turning his head to look away.

The three champions seemed to be taking their places along the edge of the platform.

"Seems to be starting, go take your place" Kai gave him a little push forwards, and then strutted off, leaving Kuroo feeling even more nervous.

As he walked over to the left corner of the platform, he could see a few cheeky students climbing down onto their platform, hoping for a better look. Or a better permanent spot to watch from. By the time he was crouching down on the side of the ledge, the platform had filled up considerably, students shuffling noisily, chatter even louder.

At times like this, he really wished he had Bokuto standing behind him, patting him way too hard on the back. Even in the presence of his childhood friend with his unamused but very helpful remarks would have helped right now. But he knew Kenma probably was still back at the castle.

At least he wasn't one of... them. He looked to his right down the row of champions.

Kiyoko was wearing a sort of skin-tight wetsuit. She was stretching out her arms, probably trying to hide the considerable amount she was shivering. 

Ushijima was standing broad, feet apart, not even the slightest hint of a tremor down his spine. He had been known to have practiced swimming in the lake, wearing nothing but swimming trunks. Apparently, he wasn't affected by the low temperature. (Although this was probably due to the fact that his school, Durmstrang, was located in a place even colder). 

Oikawa was looking somehow very determined, and Kuroo gave him props for that. Because the mint green surf shorts he was wearing were doing nothing to hide the goosebumps trailing down his legs and all over his body.

As his eyes trail back along the crowd, he spots a peak of blonde hair and glasses. Tsukishima was there, talking offhandedly to a few other Slytherins. His heart seems to fall in on itself like a deck of cards. Or at least that's how he describes the feeling of his heart being squeezed so tight it hurt.

Kuroo tried to ignore the churning his gut at the thought he might be there to cheer on Ushijima. Or well not so much as cheer, but as silent support. But then he doubled back and realized...shouldn't the blonde be the one being saved from the murky depths by Ushijima for the task. Which meant...? Did he refuse?

Suddenly he felt a whack on his back, and his hand latched onto the metal bar to his left to stop himself from falling forwards into the icy depths of water.

"What the fu-" he turned around and found Matsukawa and Hanamaki,

Their matching grins grew upon Kuroo facing to look at them, mouths falling open. They both cackled, pointing at only what Kuroo could assume were his goggles.

"What a nice pair of glasses you have" Hanamaki sniggered.

"You look like Edna from the Incredibles!" scoffed Matsukawa, and Kuroo rolled his eyes.

"Oh man you actually look like Vector from Despicable Me" Hanamaki wheezed out.

"Off to steal the moon anytime soon?" Matsukawa asked.

"Ooh, that rhymed".

"Did it?".

"Yea".

"I'm about to steal your mother fucking voice boxes if you don't shut up" Kuroo huffed, readjusting his goggles, feeling even more self-conscious.

They had no similarity to a cartoon character. They were more steampunk looking, black with little golden cogs on the sides. He had no idea what they were talking about.

"Damn someone's nervous about their upcoming bath," Matsukawa noted, looking over Kuroos shoulder at the lake.

"Who says I'm getting in!". Kuroo's voice came out with more of a squeak than he was hoping for.

"I was just assuming that since you were standing so close to the edge, you were trying to test the temperature" Matsukawa shrugged.

"Hey, hey look, don't you think the headmaster's mustache looks extra thicc today?" Hanamaki pulled on his boyfriend's sleeves, pointing over the crowd.

"That's one spicy meatball" Matsukawa nodded.

"Anyways, are you all good if we place bets on today's competition?" Hanamaki turned to look at Kuroo.

"I mean, yea go ahead. I need to focus anyway, Looks like they're about to start" Kuroo noted, looking towards the judges' panel, which had just stopped their discussion.

"Go go go!" Hanamaki pushed Matsukawa forward. "Mama wants to buy a new Rolex and they ain't cheap".

"Don't forget to show your moral fiber" Matsukawa sang over his shoulder to Kuroo.

Whatever that meant.

Sighing, he looked back to the water's edge. With his goggles on the lowest setting, he could manage to see just below the water's surface. Despite the appearance of the surface water being black, underneath was actually quite clear and blue. But he knew the further you went down, the darker and murkier it got, the harder it would be to breathe.

His heart seemed to pick up a little in his chest and he felt his stomach do something kind of unexplainable. He pushed the goggles off his eyes to rest against his forehead. He rubbed at his eyelids, giving them a little break. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"Tsukishima, are you coming!?" a voice shouted, questioningly.

Kuroo's eyes widened and he turned his head towards the name, even though it wasn't his. There he found the blonde a few meters away, looking at him. Concern etched it's way through the blondes face, brows furrowed and eyes swimming with unease. Tsukishima opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, pressing his lips into a thin line. Kuroo blinked back at him.

Then the blonde was turning on his heel and walking off towards the voices, robes flowing behind him. But he didn't have much time to mull over it when the headmaster's voice erupted into the air, forcing the chatter into silence within mere seconds.

The brief was kept short, the countdown even shorter, and then the three competitors were diving into the water. God dang it, why did Ushijimas form have to be immaculate? Then Kuroo was scrambling to shove the goggles back down over his eyes, twiddling with the cogs on the side to enhance his vision.

While everyone on the platforms was now conformed with not knowing what was going on, Kuroo's eyesight was so massively enhanced it almost made him dizzy not knowing his surroundings outside of what was the water.

Gripping the bar to his side with tight hands, he turned the cogs a few more times. The brilliant blues downgraded into a more stormy color as he followed the competitors down, down down into the water. As soon as he realized they had gone way past the surface, he let out a heavy breath.

The Grindylows were all located up near the tops of the weeds.

He watched for a solid few more minutes before deciding it was safe and raising the goggles. Sweeping the crowd of gossiping students, he could no longer see Tsukishima. So he moved his legs out of his crouch, dangling his legs over the side of the platform. Sighing, he rubbed at his joints from where he had stayed positioned for so long. Then he grabbed the goggles with two hands and hesitantly placed them back over her eyes.

A large amount of time hadn't passed when he saw that a figure was emerging from the depths.

It was Kiyoko, a few Grindylows attached to her. She looked distressed, a few wounds running down her legs.

Immediately Kuroo flagged down Kai who noted what Kuroo was saying, and a few people helped her from the water.

Luckily it wasn't so much of a dangerous situation. So he sat back down and waited once again.

The next time he saw someone, he nearly fell backward from surprise when all he saw was a shark's head, slowly shrinking. Ushijima emerged from the water, shaking his head side to side to get rid of the last remaining effects of his transfiguration. Alongside him, Kuroo was pleasantly relieved to see another Durmstrang student. The same wild redhead he had seen at Ushijima's side when they had first arrived along with the other school in the great hall.

The red head's eyes shot open, gasping for air. But as soon as his eyes locked onto Ushijima, he was jumping on him in the water, throwing his arms around his neck. He seemed to be teasing Ushjima even as he solidly swam towards the stands, carrying both their weights (somehow).

Kuroo's eyes strayed back to the water.

He couldn't get too distracted yet.

Not that he was worrying....but he was kind of really worrying about Oikawa.

The time was nearly up and he was yet to show.

The goggles worked to a great extent, but not enough to see to the bottom of the lake where the real task was set. He audibly swallowed, fingers tapping at the sides of the platform. It was another fifteen minutes before he saw more figures. Kuroo's heart leaped in his chest and two heads broke away from the water.

One was Iwaizumi, swallowing in new-found air as soon as he found the top. The other was a smaller black haired girl, he assumed Kiyoko's sister. Iwaizumi immediately offered his arm to her, escorting the two of them to the stands, helping her swim. Kuroo watched as they were safely pulled from the water.

Kiyoko nearly pushed everyone out the way to swaddle her sister with a massive towel, muttering her praises. But it didn't matter, because Kuroo's eyes were back on the water. Oikawa was still underneath, floating near the tops of the weeds, wand pointing downwards.

"What are you doing Oikawa..." he muttered to himself, pulling the cog on his goggles a little more forward.

Suddenly his vision cleared, and he could see that there were a pair of spindly fingers wrapped around his ankle. Then there were more than a few pairs of hands. They were swarming him, grabbing him, pulling him downwards.

Oikawa seemed to be struggling for air, at the same time trying to beat them off.

Kuroo jumped to his feet, ready to take action. But before he could do anything, Oikawa's wand was emitting a bright yellow light, and he came surging out of the water. Kuroo gasped before plummeting into the water, grabbing onto the ladder.

He swam a little distance before grabbing Oikawa by the bicep, helping him towards the platform. He could already tell he was weak with exhaustion as Kuroo hefted most of Oikawa's weight.

"Holy shit, you did it!' Kuroo exclaimed, grabbing the ladder.

"God fucking damn little hentai, tentacle, octopus bastards" Oikawa seethed, muttering between his deep gasps for air.

Oikawa's hands were freezing and wet in his own as he pushed him to climb the ladder first where Iwaizumi was waiting, eyebrows scrunched over his eyes with doubtless worry and fear in his eyes.

As soon as the brunette was up and wrapped in about forty different towels from different cheering people, Kuroo grabbed for the ladder himself. He maneuvered the goggles off his face and placed them on the platform, ready to heft himself up. Apart from when he placed his hands on the cold metal bars, hoisting himself, he was abruptly dragged backward by his robe.

He fell, plunging into the water, the bitter chill of liquid swallowing his body up.

His eyes darted down to find the pack of Grindylows, their fingers and claws snagged in the fabric of his clothes. Eyes beady and merciless. Their hands found purchase on his legs, which were kicking to get back up. Kuroo tried to draw breath, but it made his head spin; his lungs were empty.

The first gulp of icy lake water felt like the last breath of his life.

He tried to pull his ankle out of the grindylows grip and tried to swim upwards. But it felt like as soon as he managed to shake one of them off, another one snatched at his leg or his arm. A few times he felt his foot connect with a horned skull and he'd see a dazed grindylow float away.

But it was unstoppable.They grabbed him from everywhere with their brittle hands, pulling him down deeper till the surface light was little of nothing.

His head felt light, his limbs weak from lack of oxygen. He was...drowning...

Oh.

Slowly his eyes fell shut, his fighting response lackluster until he let himself sink down, down, down. The last thing he remembered was a large splash and a pair of strong hands in his own, squeezing tight.

...

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

When Kuroo was ripped back into consciousness, it was nothing like the movies. He didn't sit up suddenly and pant heavily while scanning the room. Instead, it was a sort of quiet wake.

The first thing Kuroo did was open his eyes.

He was lying on his back, staring straight at the ceiling of the infirmary. Everything was quiet, the room static apart from the sound of light breathing. His limbs felt sore, the ache in his shoulders impossible to ignore. The stinging cuts around his ankles, from what he could feel, were only substantial.

Slowly turning his head to the side, ahead of blonde hair welcomed him. Or more like surprised him.

Tsukishima was passed out, sitting on a chair but leaning forward so that his head was lying on Kuroo's forearm as the two of them held hands.

Huh...

Kuroo turned to look back at the ceiling, smacking his lips a few times, looking for the moisture in his mouth that was not there. He thought for sure that he would have died, compelled to live the last remaining minutes chained to the bottoms of the lake by the Gryndlows. Then the water would slowly close in over him, wrap him with its unbearable pressure till it forced itself down his throat and-

Suddenly Tsukishima was moving.

He lifted a hand to rub at his closed eyelid, pushing up the rim of his glasses as he did so. He let out a drowsy, sleep-filled sigh before his eyes were pulled open. Only a slit at first, just enough to survey the room. Just enough for his eyes to fall to Kuroo.

And then- then they were wide open.

Tsukishima jumped up with a large gasp sort of inhale, hand sliding away from where it had been placed in Kuroo's palm. There was a heavy tension-filled moment of silence where the two of them stayed put, locking in eye contact.

Kuroo parted his lips, trying to gather the words.  
"I'm alive..." was all he managed to get out.

"Y-yea..?" Tsukishima frowned, confused. But the tension was slowly leaking out of his shoulders, making them slump instead.

"Thankgod" Kuroo heaved a sigh, rubbing at his temple. "I thought the last words I was going to hear was Oikawa saying fucking damn little hentai, tentacle, octopus bastards".

Kuroo turned to look back at Tsukishima, a little grin to his mouth.

But the blonde was not smiling at all. Rather alternatively he looked guilty.

Tsukishima swallowed.  
"And I thought the last memory you'd ever have of me...was being an absolute asshole" he exhaled shakily.

And Kuroo's heart dipped a little in his chest. Even if he were to argue against it, he knew the thought process of the blonde. He wouldn't take anything else as an answer. Even when really it was Kuroo that had screwed up.

"So um...how did I end up here?" Kuroo chose a substitute thought, and he pushed himself so that he was sitting up enough to look out over the infirmary.

It was large and empty, filled with beds lining the wall. White sheets lay crisp and tucked in without any occupants. The two of them were the only inhabitants here.

"Ah, of course, you wouldn't remember" Tsukishima leaned back in his chair, also looking out over the room. "You were pulled out of the water and taken here. It's been maybe six hours since then".

"Hm" Kuroo hummed to himself, and then he swiveled to look at the blonde again. "I didn't do anything stupid in my sleep did I?".

"Some occasional talking" Tsukishima gave a weak smile, accompanied by a limp shrug.

"Oh gosh," Kuroo groaned, scrubbing over his face with a hand.

"Don't worry it was just you saying something like...how the best barber can never receive the best haircut".

"What?" Kuroo frowned. "If he's the best, why can't he give himself a haircut?".

"That's what I was thinking!" Tsukishima huffed, crossing his arms, a small pout on his face.

Kuroo couldn't help but smile at that.

So cute.

"So I fell into some water and to be saved in front of the whole school huh?" Kuroo brought a hand to scratch the nape of his neck, grinning. "Haha, how embarrassing".

"Extremely" Tsukishima grinned back in agreement.

"So what poor sob has to do it? Get their robes wet for poor old me" Kuroo chuckled but stopped upon seeing Tsukishima's face return serious.

"Ah, that was me actually" the blonde's eyes drifted off to the floor.

"You???" Kuroo blinked.

"Yea" Tskishima's eyes shot back to him. "I used to be a have a part-time job as a lifeguard back in the muggle world. Why are you so surprised when I've literally told you I love water".

"Maybe I wanted to deny the one thing that makes you so imperfect" Kuroo cocked a brow, back to his grinning.

"Okay, you and your brain cell can shut up now. Don't you have to sleep some more or something" Tsukishima scowled.

"Hey! That one brain cell works very hard thankyou" Kuroo falsely pouted. "And at least it knows how to take a compliment".

...

"I really am thankful, y' know" Kuroo smiled, meekly.

"Augh" Tsukishima seemed to be done since he stood up and grabbed the sheet off the bed, throwing it over Kuroo's head.

'AH! YOU FIEND! SOMEONE HELP, I'M BEING ATTACKED" Kuroo struggled to push the sheet back off as Tsukishima leaned over, battling to force the sheet over his head.

"Go back to sleep, go back to sleep" Tsukishima repeated, swatting Kuroo's hands away.

"HELP!" Kuroo yelped.

"I- I NEED AS- ASSISTANCE-" he couldn't help but laugh. The two of them dissolved into laughter as Tsukishima dropped the sheet, leaning back. Kuroo pushed the sheet away, drawing in a few gasping breaths between laughs. Tsukishimas giggles faded away...

"Why won't you just accept my thanks" Kuroo asked. "You saved me".

"Oh come on anyone would. I bet if Bokuto were there, he'd strip down to naked and battle the giant squid for you" Tsukishima snorted.

"Bokuto would strip down naked and battle the giant squid for fun" Kuroo cocked an eyebrow.

"Look, why wouldn't I save you? God i've been-" Tsukishima stopped himself before he could speak too fast, become to exasperated.

He sighed, sitting on the edge of Kuroo's bed.  
"I was sitting here after the incident. And I was-" Tsukishima mulled around for a word. "Angry".

Kuroo blinked, choosing to wait and hear out his words.

"I was angry" Tsukishimas repeated, his gaze falling to the crisp sheets of the bed. "I thought...how stupid of you. I was pissed that you could escape from our fight so easily. That if you died, you would have gotten away with so much....".

The blonde took a deep breath.

"Of course I was being petty though. I realized that maybe if you didn't make it then the last thing we had done together was argue. I wouldn't have had a chance to forgive you and I'd just be left with an empty spot with nothing to fill it. When I saw you fall in I-" Tsukishima choked back a noise, teeth tugging at his bottom lip.

"There was so much water in your lungs Kuroo..." Tsukishima spoke quietly, eyes glossed over.

Kuroo still didn't say anything. He merely slipped his hand into the blonde's giving it a small squeeze of reassurance. Something to say 'But i'm still here...look'. Tsukishima sniffed, balling a fast and wiping at his eyes under his glasses. Hesitantly he met Kuroo's gaze.

"Obviously now you're awake and alive so I can resume thinking youre a bastard" Tsukishima joked, ending his comment with a weak laugh.

"Pft, as if I could ever die" Kuroo joked back.

"Ugh. But you could of and I just- when you were lying here I decided I should...um..." Tsukishima trailed off.

"You should what?" Kuroo asked, thoroughly confused.

"Confess" Tsukishima spoke the word quickly.

But not quick enough, because Kuroo heard it. Of course he fucking heard it. It made his heart do some sort of weird thing. What was it again? Skip a beat. That was it.

"Confess that I knew you had feelings for me. Confess that I liked you back and yet I played with your feelings without intending to" the blonde twisted his mouth to the side.

Kuroo felt like he was back under the lakes water again, because he couldn't breathe.

"I dont know why I didn't tell you I liked you back. Maybe it was the fact that you hadn't even admitted to liking me. It was kind of fun anyway. The lead up. Kind of like...".

"A game" Kuroo finished.

"Yea" Tsukishima nodded, sadly. "A game we both ended up losing...".

"I've made too many mistakes" the blonde sighed, shakily.

"No" Kuroo shook his head, and he leaned forward to press a kiss to Tsukishima's temple  
"That's not it" Kuroo pulled back to look at him.

Tsukishima looked as if he were trying impossibly hard to hold back tears.

"I've made mistakes too...a lot of them" he shifted uncomfortably, nervous.

Because everytime he had tried to explain himself, it had either not come out right, or Tsukishima had walked away.

"The apprenticeship" was all Kuroo had to say to have Tsukishima's frown slowly return. "I was stupid. Akaashi even told me I was stupid straight to my face when it happened. I got offered an amazing position and all I could think was how it was going to screw up what we had going on here" Kuroo sighed. "When really that wasn't even the case. I don't know. Even though you had supported my choice of career in the library, had indulged in my behaviour in the dragon task....I still thought you would be mad".

"Mad" Tsukishima repeated.

"Don't even ask me why I thought that, I had no idea" Kuroo shook his head. "I think I was just angry that something so great had happened to me...which was you. And then this other great thing was happening that might ruin the first great thing. I gave myself an excuse to not ruin us so quick. I thought maybe if I didn't tell you, then this thing we have could last just a little longer".

"Do you know when the apprenticeship actually starts...?" Tsukishima quirked an eyebrow.

"I-" Kuroo paused to think. "No. He only told me that we would talk after the tasks had finished.

"So technically you could start your apprenticeship after you complete your 7th year. That's probably what he's wanting you know. A fully fledged hogwarts student graduate".

"I never thought about it like that" Kuroo blinked, owlishly.

"One brain cell" Tsukishima tapped the side of his head.

"Oh my god..." Kuroo ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the bed. "I'm a fucking idiot".

Suddenly his eyes shot back up to the blonde, and he scrambled to grab his other hand.  
"Tsukishima go out with me!".

"What???" Tsukishima's eyes blew wide. "You're asking me now? Like this?".

"But i'm an idiot remember!" Kuroo grinned, wildly, and Tsukishima looked positively perxpled. Maybe a little scared.

"I've been such an idiot up to this point. This is the only thing I know i'm doing correct. When else am I going to ask you. Right now. Right now I want to do this" Kuroo shook their hands excitedly where they were clasped in mid air.

"I..." Tsukishima was so baffled.

"Tsukishima Kei. I am in love with you" Kuroo stared dead into the blondes eyes. "It started slow. But I am so positive that it was there from the begining. And it has only grown. It has grown enormously. So enormous I don't think I can even take it anymore. So I am asking you. Right now. Will you go out with me....?".

Kuroo's heart was thumping so hard in his chest, his stomach was clenched so tight he thought he might be sick. The anticipation weighed so heavy as he looked into Tsukishimas eyes, not breaking contact.

"Kuroo...ugh" Tsukishimas eyes fell away. "You're so gross and sappy".

"Is that a yes?" Kuroo cocked his head.

"So, so sappy" Tsukishima mumbled, groaning.

Kuroo let go of their hands and he instead lay his fingertips on his jaw, slowly pulling Tsukishima's head back to face him.  
"Is that a yes...?" Kuroo asked again, this time more quiet and more soft. He looked at the blonde, eyes a gentle flood of breaking emotions.

"Yes" Tsukishima whispered back, voice more certain than anything.

Not a second later was Kuroo surging forward and pulling him into a kiss. A riptide of emotions enveloped him.

...

What made him more than happy was that Tsukishima was kissing back, lips soft against his, melting into the contact and drawing him closer. And Kuroo thought that just maybe he could get used to the rattling of his heart until it was pathetically normal. No dramatic echo, no soft don of impending doom. Not anymore. Only the soft drumming for Tsukishima that would linger there if he were awake or not.

Tsukishima who was tall with messy blonde hair, sharp eyes and a cutting grin permanently splayed in his features. Tsukishima who was perfect, liked to tease him, was a book nerd and loved water.

Ah...Kuroo might just have to try to forget that last part though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...lol...  
> OKAY SO BEFORE YOU ALL GET MAD AT ME FOR POSTING LATE- I totally wrote this straight after the next chapter. However it didn't feel right not writing a happy scene full of fluff and normalness after all the angst. 
> 
> But literally after 2 months of not writing the last part but also not wanting to publish it without the cute part, I finally ended up here...publishing it :')
> 
> So there's my explanation. Otherwise I hope you liked it! If I ever do get around to writing the final part then there's that to look forward to. Thank you for everyone who stuck through with me and read <3 I'm so happy for the support, I bathe in it.


	5. Epilogue - Call me Biased

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of times I write smile in this fic: 1000
> 
> Sorry for all the spicy implications of this chapter. I just kinda...y’know imagine, uh. They haven't- seen eachother in a while and uh- uhm- smooching is kinda nice. LOL BYE.

Tsukishima had been exhausted for a while now. It was halfway through the year and time hadn’t been good to him. Studying in the library, eating, sleeping, class, studying- repeat. You get it. 

It was boring living the routine of the past month, taking his half-year exams. He just couldn’t help but be bored. The halls swarmed with boring people. Maybe even the whole goddamn school. 

Since Kuroo had graduated last year, life had been a little too mundane for his liking.

The end of last year consisted of Kuroo and Tsukishima sneaking out at dark. Kuroo would pull him down to the riverbank, long grass brushing their knees as Tsukishima giggled from behind his hand. Then Kuroo would crouch down and show him the bioluminescent miniature schools of fish. Tsukishima would dip the tips of his fingers in the water, watching the small shining fish crowd around and nibble with curiosity. 

That was only one of the memories he had. There were so many. Kuroo always swung around the end of his class to walk him to the next one, even if it only happened to be literal meters away. Sometimes Kuroo would grab his hand and pull him into an empty classroom. With a single kiss, his mind would melt away to nothing but static. 

Undoubtedly he had been missing out on something most of his life, and then it had disappeared with the cheering of the seventh year students graduating, fading into the echoes of his memory. 

Tsukishima had fallen into the new year with Kuroo’s snorting laughter ringing in his ears and Kuroo’s smirk burned into his mind. 

It was stupid. So stupid. 

He had gone so long being alone and he had been okay with it. But then upon meeting Kuroo, befriending him, falling in love with him, he had realized that he previously hadn’t been okay at all. 

There was still some comfort in having Akaashi and Kenma as friends with their witty banter. But Kuroo and Bokuto had been the sufficient force pulling out a reaction from the group. 

Now the days were spent sitting on the grass and studying; Days that were previously filled with Kuroo prodding Akaashi and whining about needing help with his own work and Bokuto accidentally setting his robes on fire at least once a day trying to learn a spell.

That’s how Tsukishima’s brain often ended up drifting away as he walked to his next class. The students around him swarmed like blurs as he focused on reality just enough to not walk into the nearest column. 

It must have been one of those afternoons where he happened to be more lucid because his ears picked up on some conversation. Three students were looking out a nearby window, chatting away as they noticed something.

“Who are those two people standing on the bridge?”.

“I don’t know, seems kind of creepy though”.

“Wow, that guy has some major bedhead”.

Tsukishima’s heart seemed to stutter as he whipped around to stare at the three still peering through the window.

“Wait isn’t that Bokuto Koutarou!?”.

“What!? Bokuto as in the famous quidditch player from Montrose Magpies?”.

“Yea, they just won their thirty-third league cup”.

“Well, what’s he doing here?”.

Tsuskishima didn’t need to hear anything else, nor could he hear anything else as he was sprinting in the opposite direction of the class, flying down the stairs. 

He raced across the stone courtyard and only paused to stop at the archway of the viaduct bridge. It was long and spanned all the way across a chasm. 

Bokuto and Kuroo were both leaning on the left of the stone railings, arms crossed underneath them aside from Kuroo’s arm outstretched pointing at something.

The sunset was massive and warm, covering the whole sky with tinges of orange and blurring pinks. Fluffy white clouds crowded the horizon and around the golden sun. 

Tsukishima took one last large breath before smoothing down his robes and walking towards them in the most normal fashion he could manage.

He was a third way across the bridge before Kuroo seemed to notice him, eyes flickering off to the side to catch his figure. The smile that bloomed across his face was as bright as the very sun laying just beyond the bridge. 

It was almost unreal as Kuroo’s features came more into view. Tsukishima’s eyes, traitors that they were, lingered on the sight of Kuroo’s tanned skin, sharp collar bones, and his chest as it expanded.

He looked as he always had, although he had an air of maturity around him. Though that could be blamed on the deep burgundy robes, swirling with gold patterns and held in the middle with a black leather belt. The long black boots, tight pants, and shirt did him justice. 

They met halfway across the bridge, and Tsukishima’s heart was squeezed so tight as Kuroo stood before him.

“Wow, you look pretty neat wearing sunset, Kei” Kuroo smirked.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming” Tsukishima breathed the words out.

Kuroo shrugged a shoulder, still with that trademark grin.

“I guess I wanted to surprise you. Knowing you though, nothing says romance like sending an owl saying ‘Hello, I am coming to see you in a few days. Just wanted to let you know in case you needed preparation’ ”. 

“You need to work on your sarcasm” Tsukishima tries to look put out but he’s smiling too hard to do so.

Kuroo pouts slightly, tucks this thumb into the pocket of his robes.  
“Are you saying you didn’t miss me. Not even at all?” he sniffs. 

Tsukishima kind of wants to punch him in his perfectly functioning windpipes, but he also maybe wanted to kiss him. He did the second one, fortunately.

So he kissed Kuroo. It didn’t last long, just enough for Tsukishima’s senses to flood with his smell, his touch, his taste. Long enough for Kuroo’s fingers to seek out Tsukishima’s and twine them together. 

It wasn’t a kiss that should leave someone breathless, yet when they broke apart, Tsukishima couldn’t seem to draw enough air into his lungs. 

“Oh my, let me just retract that previous statement then,” Kuroo said, a happy lilt to his voice that gave away just how much he was enjoying Tsukishima’s annoyance as his smile morphed into a scowl. 

“Tsukki!!!!”. Suddenly Bokuto had appeared and he was given approximately 0.5 seconds of warning before two arms were thrown around his neck.

If Tsukishima didn’t think he could breathe before, he definitely couldn’t breathe now as he returned the very tight hug. 

“Boku-to” Tsukishima chokes out as the arms fall away and he bends over slightly, trying to regain breath.

“Oh sorry, Tsukki! That was probably too much ” Bokuto gives a stilted laugh and waves his hand dismissively. “I’m just really excited”.

“It’s true. He wouldn’t shut up the whole way here” Kuroo rolls his eyes, but his grin betrays him.

“Yea, I-” Bokuto starts, but he doesn’t get to finish.

Tsukishima faintly renders a black blur racing past before he sees Akaashi crashing into Bokuto, toppling him over. 

They fall to the ground on Bokuto’s screech, and then there’s giggling from Akaashi as he presses kiss upon kiss all over Bokuto’s face. 

Bokuto only laughs, bright and bubbly as he closes his eyes and lets himself be assaulted with the onslaught of kisses, Akaashi’s two hands cupping his cheeks. 

Kuroo’s eyes darted from the two on the ground to meet Tsukishima’s.

“Why can’t you greet me like that?” Kuroo splayed his hands out, gesturing to the couple on the ground, and then back to Tsukishima, accusingly.

“Love at first sight is the new annoyed at first sight?” Tsukishima suggests.

There must be a happy sparkle behind his eye or something else stupid because Kuroo doesn’t retort. He only steps forward, cupping Tsukishima's cheek before they're kissing again.

Tsukishima positively melts into it. 

When they break apart, Kuroo doesn’t move away. 

“Well if you’re not gonna say it then I’ll say it. I absolutely wholeheartedly have missed you and before you arrived, I was about to throw myself off this bridge from not seeing your smile for so long” he whispered, breath hot against Tsukishima's ear. 

“Too bad for you then because I’m smiling right now. Time to own up and take the consequences’ Tsukishima laughed, pulling away.

“Shall we go inside?” Kuroo nodded up to the castle.

“Sure. Should we…” Tsukishima’s gaze broke away to look at Akaashi and Bokuto on the ground. Who were making out now? Great.

“Nah, just leave em be” Kuroo waved a hand. “Unless...I walk up to them and say Player Three has joined the game?”.

“No”.

“Alrighty”.

So they began the walk to the castle, the orange and pink glow of the sunset behind them.

“So you never did tell me why you were here?” Tsukishima asks.

“Ah, believe it or not, the headmaster asked for me specifically” Kuroo held a finger in the air.

“What, why?”.

“I must be a wanted man”.

“That’s not possible, you weren’t even a wanted child”.

“Shut up, you love me”.

“Maybe”.

Kuroo’s stupid smile was still prominent on his face, looking onwards with warmth and with love, even when Tsukishima looked away, pushing his glasses further up on his nose. 

“Well to truthfully answer your question, a breed of dragons changed their migration path. That exact path happens to be over Hogwarts. I got sent here to make sure none of them cause any destruction to the school or I don’t know- randomly swoop down and capture a poor kid mistaken as a sheep” Kuroo shrugged.

“That doesn’t explain why Bokuto’s with you?” Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow.

“Dude has major quidditch skills to help with herding. Or at least that’s the excuse I gave so he could come with me” Kuroo snickers. 

“I’m guessing he has time off since he just finished winning a cup?” Tsukishima tilted his head.

“Gosh, don't bring that up. I just spent hours listening to his harping. Though if you talk to Bokuto about it and he’ll love you for the next three reincarnations of your life” Kuroo snorted.

“Thanks for the warning” Tsukishima smirked.

They both reached the end of the bridge, making their way into the stone courtyard.

“So how’s studying going?”.

“Ughhhhhhhhhhh”.

“Ah, still trying to be an auror I see” Kuroo barked with laughter. 

“Well, you know me, trying to change the world” Tsukishima sighed.

“For the better?” Kuroo asked.

“Uh”.

“Tsukki, answer me”.

“Anyways” Tsukishima pursed his lips. “I have a class right now, so I probably shouldn’t be spotted wandering the hallways. Do you have to go do your thing?”.

“Nah” Kuroo shook his head. “That’s tomorrow. Though I should go check in with the headmaster and tell him I’m here”. 

“And then you’re free all afternoon?” Tsukishima raised his eyebrows.

“Ooo Tsukki, have you planned something for us” Kuroo waggles his eyebrows and Tsukishima scoffs, shoving his shoulder.

“Hey Kuroo, where are the dragons?”. Bokuto suddenly appeared in the courtyard, head tilting in question. Beside him walked Akaashi, arms tucked behind his back neatly, as if he weren’t the reason behind Bokuto’s pink swollen lips. 

Tsukisima leans over to whisper in Kuroo’s ear.  
“There they are, officer. The horny are back”. 

“That’s tomorrow, man” Kuroo snorts a laugh. Bokuto’s hair is absolutely disheveled, the majority of it pushed off to one side of his head.

“I’m glad we came! Man, it’s gonna be so cool to see all of them flying through the air” Bokuto grinned. 

“Not as entertaining as seeing Tsukisima be annoyed by Kuroo at anything,” Akaashi remarks, a smile small curled in his lips.

Kuroo looks over to Tsukishima.  
“Oya Oy-”.

“No”.

Everybody laughs, and Tsukishima can’t help but feel overwhelmed with such sudden happiness. He really did miss this. 

Kuroo ends up dragging Bokuto away to go tell the headmaster they arrived. After that, the four of them walk through the halls and tour the landscape of the school for old times. 

While passing the black lake, Bokuto nudges Kuroo and brings up how he had nearly drowned which went a little like;

“How did you even nearly drown. Just drink the water, bro”. 

Which was then followed by Akaashi smacking his face with his palm. Literally. Even if Bokuto whined “It was just a joke, Akaashi! It was just a joke! Don’t walk away!”.

Naturally, they all did end up splitting apart when it came to dinner in the hall. The headmaster ended up convincing Kuroo and Bokuto to sit with the rest of the staff up at the long table adorning the front of the hall.

Tsukishima spent way too much time accidentally flicking his gaze over to Kuroo who was laughing with the elderly transfiguration teacher who seemed to be flustered and waving her hand at him.

He would be embarrassed, but it seemed like Akaashi was doing the same thing.  
“Absolutely goddamn whipped” was Kenma’s words as they kept breaking away from their conversation.

After everyone clears out of the hall, it kind of feels like there’s no need to all hang out as a group when Kuroo and Tsukishima would rather spend time alone together. But they don’t seem to even be given the choice since Bokuto and Akaashi have mysteriously gone missing. 

“I nearly didn’t spot you through all that sea of black, Tsukki” Kuroo whines as they make their way to the library. “I’m so glad I don’t have to wear those Hogwarts robes anymore”.

“Hmm” Tsukishima hums. 

“Not that you look bad. I think wearing all black makes you look like a sexy motorcycle, vroom vroom”.

“I’m not even surprised you’d say that”.

“The fact that you know where I got it from makes it a win for me already”.

The hours spent in the library felt very familiar. Kuroo pulls down all the books he needs, despite Tsukishima now being taller, if only by a bit. He also takes advantage of the devoid, empty library, pulling Tsukishima into his lap.

He can’t say he minds it, especially with the way Kuroo rests his head over Tsukishima’s shoulder, reading along with him. It feels nice to just be in each other's presence. It’s always been like that, not needing to do something extravagant to have fun together. It’s what makes Tsukishima love Kuroo even more.

Tsukishima asks what Kuroo’s been doing in Romania, not that he doesn’t already know most of it from the letters they constantly send each other.

Kuroo recounts it all with excitement behind his eyes, a grin on his face, and with the energy of 10 Bokutos. 

They end up spending nearly the rest of their night there. Again, it’s nice to take advantage of an empty library, especially when Kuroo’s lips feel so good against his.  
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

The next day it’s a little around Tsukishima’s third class when Kuroo finds him in the hallways on the cusp of being late to his charms class. 

“Hey there you are, handsome” Kuroo winks. “We just spotted the first dragon and soon there’s going to be hundreds of them flying right past your window!”.

“I thought your job was to make sure they don’t get too close to the windows,” Tsukishima snorts.

“Damn, I came here to ask for a good luck kiss but now I know what that mouth does. Complain” Kuroo pouts. 

“Fine, good luck and don’t die out there. I imagine a horde of dragons are especially dangerous” Tsukishima sighs, reaching forward and adjusting Kuroo’s clothes for him. They don’t even need fixing. But the muscle and broad chest is something to admire under the curve of his palm. 

“Well, the trick is not caring if you live or die” Kuroo waggles his brows. 

“We talked about this,” Tsukishima looked at him with a deadpan expression. 

“If I die, it’s just a delayed abortion done by the fetus itself. I know, I know” Kuroo rolled his eyes.

“Good” Tsukishima smiles, and he leans forward to press a kiss to Kuroo’s lips. “Now go do your job, you're not getting paid to stand around”. 

Kuroo opens his mouth to say something, then closes it again and presses his lips into a wide smile.

“Aye, aye captain”.

“Hey Kuroo, we doing this?”. Bokuto bounds over to the two. “Oh, hi Tsukki!”.

“And goodbye” Tsukishima turns around immediately and begins to walk off, leaving Bokuto gaping and making an offended sound. 

Tsukishima presses the back of his hand to his mouth and laughs.

“Okay, so you know what you’re doing right?” Kuroo asked. 

“About the strategy or life in general?” Bokuto blinks. 

“The strategy...”.

“Oh thank god”.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

Kuroo was excited. Correction. Kuroo was excited as fuck.

When the proposition had been floated at his place of work that there was an abroad job on directing a herd of migrating dragons, Kuroo was a little disinterested. It was out of the way and he had better things to do. They had recently received a batch of abandoned dragon eggs, and he totally wanted to be there when they hatched. 

But when he heard exactly where this abroad job was located...god did he offer so fast he swore everyone in a five-mile radius had raised their eyebrows at him. 

His new friends had even taken time out of their way to come see Kuroo while he was hurriedly packing and to ask just what the heck was going on.

Two days later and an owl to Bokuto, he was on his way. It was all worth the surprise visit to see through the school's windows, Tsukishima sprinting down the staircase, only to act calm and normal when walking out of the courtyard. 

So here he was after a nice night with his boyfriend, doing the job he loved. He could say that confidently as he watched the gathering of dragons fly over the black lake. The thundering of wings was slightly overwhelming and the waves of wind would have knocked him down if it weren’t for the steady broom he sat upon. 

Dragons of blood-red scales glided and flapped through the air, ranging in different sizes. Kuroo watched, making sure none of them didn’t happen to fly in his direction where the school lay behind him. Distantly he could see Bokuto further away, heading up the back of the dragon group.

He laughed as he watched Bokuto do a few spirals, robes momentarily flipping over his laughing face. Kuroo laughed even harder when he fumbled for grip on his broom and the fabric over his head. 

With his distraction, his mind had blocked out the feeling of wind more powerful than there should be and he had definitely been too distracted to notice two fighting dragons, jaws locked in combat, hurtling straight towards him. 

Kuroo gasped before they were passing just over the top of his head, but not before one of the dragon's claws caught the robe of his left shoulder. There was a ripping noise. The feeling of liquid, hot and slippery. The tissue in the area throbbed where three claw marks had cut deep into his shoulder, tearing the flesh.

Kuroo only just managed to grasp the idea of what had happened when he realized blood was leaving his body, the pain was blossoming and expanding all through his body and that while noticing this all- he was plummeting to the ground from a very, very high height, broom long forgotten. 

The last recollected memory he seemed to have was…fuck.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

After all the warnings. 

After all he had joked about his warnings while simultaneously giving him a second warning. 

Tsuksishima was going to punch Kuroo in the chest. He was going to have a goddamn field day. That was if his overwhelming worried brain wouldn't overtake him first.

So he found himself again dashing through the castle halls yet again, but this time for another reason. Throwing open the double doors to the hospital wing was no treat.

Kuroo was sitting upon a bed, legs dangling off the side of the bed. The material that made up his robe was barely hanging onto a thread, exposing skin in the area of his shoulder which had three claw marks. They were brutish, dark red flesh showing in each deep crevasse.

But what was worse, worse than the blood-stained shoulder and upturned skin away from each individual claw mark, was that Kuroo was smiling that stupid smile. 

As Tsukishima walked closer, Kuroo saw him exchange a few words with the nurse tending to his shoulder. She had nodded and spoken back with a few hand gestures that suggested she was going to go gather what she required for the treatment.

“Tsukki!” Kuroo turned back to him, that wide smile still on his face. “I almost did a fetus deletus. Just like we talked about. Crazy right!” Kuroo laughed heartily as Tsukishima came to a stop in front of him.

Tsukishima merely looked over the wound, over his face, before crossing his arms.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Kuroo’s smile fell, blinking back at him.

“How- How do you always end up here?” Tsukishima sighed long and hard, arms falling back to his side.

“You mean the grand total of twice?” Kuroo cocked an eyebrow, grin back on his face now that he knew he wasn’t in trouble. 

“Yes!” Tsukishima groaned.

“What can I say? Dragons talons are sharp” Kuroo shrugged, and winced hard, realizing he had a bad shoulder. 

What an idiot. 

“That’s uh, an inside joke between Oikawa and I” Kuroo laughed weakly, edged with fatigue.

Tsukishima’s heart gave away.

“I’m really trying to hold back my question of does it hurt. But I mean, how much does it hurt?” Tsukishima’s fingers danced over the wound, instead choosing to reach down and hold Kuroo’s hand.

“I have to admit; pretty bad,” Kuroo sighed. “But it would be worse if Bokuto hadn’t brought me in so fast”.

“Where is Bokuto?” Tsukishima asked, curious. 

“He was sobbing so hard they refused to let him stay” Kuroo huffed a laugh. “I owe him my life. He caught me before I hit the ground. They need to start paying him more to be on that quidditch team”.

“Oh” Tsukishima suddenly remembered. “I brought you something. Well actually, I was supposed to give you it yesterday”. 

His hands fell away to reach inside his robes and he pulled out a small package. Reluctantly he placed it into Kuroo’s good hands, who popped it open with a flick of his thumb.

“Aw Kei! You brought me chocolates. You really are a huge sap aren’t you”. Kuroo looked a little too smug for his liking.

“I can’t believe I try for you,” Tsukishima sighed.

“Me neither. I must be one lucky guy, hm?” Kuroo cocked a brow. 

“You sure are lucky” Tsukishima clicked his tongue. He took the chocolates from Kuroo’s hand and set them aside to sit on the right side of him. “You literally survived two death situations”.

“Come on, someone who deals with dragons always has some sort of cool scar. Oh wow, I can’t wait to show Kai” Kuroo mused.

“That’s not a scar. That’s a full-on wound. Your shoulder’s going to have a hard time coming back from that” Tsukishima pinched his eyebrows together, worriedly.

At that exact moment, the nurse chose to show up once again. She took to treating Kuroo’s shoulder, asking him to drink something that made him hiss in displeasure, and then she wiped something over his shoulder that made Kuroo’s grip on Tsukishima’s hand tighten. 

When she had completed, she had talked him over the healing process and Tsukishima watched as Kuroo nodded numbly. 

He must be exhausted.

When she leaves, Kuroo seems to slump a little. His eyes are a little duller, a little more lifeless than usual, riddled with weariness. 

“I’m sorry” Tsukishima whispers. He looks down at Kuroo’s hand where he traces patterns and circles over the back of his hand, but he can feel when Kuroo looks at him. His intense gaze burns into the side of his face, confused.

“For what?” Kuroo speaks, slow and cautious.

“You’re stuck here another few weeks. That’s going to be bad for your job. No. Your shoulder is going to be bad for your job”. Tsukishima holds back an exasperated sigh.

Kuroo continues to stare at him, face stoic and unreadable.  
“I don’t see how any of this is your fault?”.

Tsukishima looks up to meet his gaze.  
“You only came here to see me, and now your career is going to be hindered”.

Kuroo’s eyelashes blink over wide eyes.  
“This shoulder!? It’s nothing! It’ll be healed in no time, and then it’ll only take me another month to get back to using it properly. Gosh, you had me worrying over something potentially worse”.

“That’s really okay for you?” Tsukishima winces.

“I think you’re worried about being selfish again” Kuroo rolls his eyes with a huff of laughter. 

“Maybe” Tsukishima admits with a small smile.

“You know I get to stay here for another few weeks. That’s time to spend with each other” Kuroo perks up, tone cherry. “We can visit Hogsmeade and we can see each other every day. Just like we used to!”.

“That is true” Tsukishima’s smile grows.

“And you get to feed me chocolates!”.

“I suddenly don’t see how this benefits me anymore”.

“Rude!”.

They both break into laughter, and just in time for the double doors to burst open. They swivel their heads to see a worry stricken face.

“Tetsu!” Bokuto paces his way to the side of the bed. “Gosh you are okay, oh god you’re okay, you’re okay”. 

“Woah hey! You have that look on you. Don’t you dare” Kuroo points at him, eyes narrowing.

“What look?” Bokuto pouts.

“Like you wanna hug me!” Kuroo accuses him. “I don’t want more damage to this shoulder”.

Bokuto whines, shoulders slumping inwards. Akaashi makes his way up from behind him, Kenma following close on his heels.

“You look terrible,” Kenma remarks.

“Don’t I know it” Kuroo grins. 

“Oh, is it the appropriate time to start making jokes at your expense?” Akaashi cocks a brow.

“I think you already are” Kuroo deadpans.

“What, I’m totally h-arm-less” Akaashi blinks.

“That’s terrible, and hey! I didn’t lose my arm!!!!’ Kuroo counters.

“Not yet” Akaashi’s eyes shift to the side. 

The two of them bicker and Tsukishima’s eyes dart between them. Yes, since Kuroo had graduated last year, life had been a little too mundane for his liking. Yes, he had missed this. Perhaps he was being biased.

But who wouldn’t be? 

Especially when Kuroo whipped his head to look at Tsukishima in search of backup to Akaashi’s teasing, but instead found Tsukishima smiling. What was great about it was that Kuroo smiled back in the exact same way. Full of love. 

Yes…

Definitely biased.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha did anyone forget there was supposed to be an extra chapter to this book because I did until today when I realized and went “oh shit”. So then I went and wrote this 
> 
> I honestly had so much fun writing my first Kurotsuki, so thanks to anyone who supported this book because you were also supporting my ideas ;︶;✨


End file.
